Moonlit Past
by Catrina Winner
Summary: [Heero/OC] (A sequel to Home is Where the Heart Is. Please read that first.) What else can go wrong for these poor pilots? An insane mall and a crazy parrot? All in a day's work! Complete.
1. Chapter One

Moonlit Past  
  
Chapter 1  
  
AN: I want to thank my good friends Lady and Hilde for helping me out on this sequel. Hilde deserves the credit for all the wedding plans and details and Lady helped out with Catrina's appearance, disappearance, and part of the parrot idea. Please send me comments at catrina_winner@sailormoon.com!!!  
  
1 Six Months Later  
  
People all over the nation were turning their televisions to the international news report. An overly happy reporter came on, his fake smile lighting up millions of screens around the world.  
  
"On our top story tonight, one of the colonies hero's, Gundam pilot of 02, will be wed at the restored Maxwell Church on colony L2. Duo Maxwell and Hilde Schbeiker are two of the few people that helped end the war single-handedly. Duo Maxwell was adopted and raised in the original Maxwell Church by Father Maxwell and Sister Helen. Sadly, the Church, and his home, was destroyed by the Alliance in AC 187. Today, we see…" The camera panned out to a view of the beautiful church. The reporter's voice continued on, speaking about the background of the Maxwell Church and its history. However, at the Maxwell Church, no one was paying any heed.  
  
"Quatre! If you make my tie any tighter, you'll kill me!" Duo hollered. "Ouch!"  
  
"Sorry, Duo, but you want to look good for Hilde, don't you?" Quatre asked sweetly.  
  
"What?!? Of course I do! What kind of a question is that?" Duo grumbled.  
  
"Weakling!" Wufei muttered from a corner.  
  
"HEY! I don't see you getting married here!" Duo gasped as Quatre again pulled the tie too tight. "Quatre…can't breathe….Thanks…" Duo said as Quatre loosened his grip. "So anyway…Wufei, when ya going to ask Sally? You know you want to…"  
  
"QUEIT MAXWELL!! I WILL NOT HAVE YOU MESSING AROUND IN MY PERSONAL LIFE!!" Wufei yelled rather loudly.  
  
"So…it's personal is it?" Duo asked, wiggling his eyebrows up and down. Wufei did a serious blush and turned to face the wall. Duo would have burst out laughing, if Quatre wasn't trying to fix Duo's tie again.  
  
*********  
  
"Where's the bouquet?"  
  
"Hem adjustment! Hem adjustment!"  
  
"Hey, those shoes don't match!"  
  
"Where are the rose petals? We need the rose petals!"  
  
Hilde rolled her eyes. These ladies were nuts. She glanced over at Sally Po who looked down and met her gaze.  
  
"Remind me not to hire these ladies for my wedding," she said to Hilde.  
  
"Oh? Planning on a wedding soon, then?" Hilde grinned.  
  
"You bet. Wufei's close to cracking. You can see it in the twitch of his eyes."  
  
Hilde giggled, "Well, good luck."  
  
"Don't worry about that," Sally smiled mischievously. "Sometimes, hon, it takes more then 'good luck' to get Wufei to do something." Hilde couldn't stop laughing. Catherine scurried by quickly. She waved as she ran past them. Hilde raised a hand in acknowledgment when several indistinct blurs of color tore past her.  
  
"Flower girls!!"  
  
"Rose petals cannot just walk away!! Where are they?"  
  
"Camera's! Over here!"  
  
"Media, media, media, media, media…"  
  
"Where's the bride?"  
  
At this last remark, Hilde gulped and slid into the shadows. They probably wanted to stick her full of pins again. Sally stepped towards them, hiding Hilde behind her and pointed down the hall.  
  
"The bride went down there just a few minutes ago."  
  
"Thank you!" the coordinator said breathlessly. She and her minions ran off down the winding hallway.  
  
"Baka's…" Sally mumbled. Hilde nodded in agreement.  
  
"Thanks. I find that those ladies are remarkably like the ancient dinosaur, the Raptor."  
  
"I agree. Anyway, it wasn't any problem," Sally returned, waving her hands in the air. Lady Une marched up to them. Her hair was hanging down about her shoulders and her bridesmaid's dress swirled about her knees.  
  
"Hello, Lady. How are you?" Hilde said.  
  
"We…I mean…I'm fine…" she replied slowly. "Do you know where Master Treize is?"  
  
"Of course. He should be down the hall with the other men, helping Duo get ready," Sally informed her.  
  
"Thank you very much. He forgot his rose and I would see him without it. You understand, don't you?" she asked, smiling. Sally and Hilde blinked and nodded, though they had no idea what Une was talking about.  
  
"Oh, and by the way, have you seen my glasses anywhere?" Sally and Hilde sweatdropped.  
  
"Er…nope, sorry…"  
  
"Oh, well. Master Treize probably has them anyway…" Lady Une turned and walked down the hall, her high heels clicking smartly on the tiled floor. At that exact moment someone began to yell about business from the room Duo was in.  
  
"That sounded a lot Wufei," Hilde observed. "I wonder what Duo has done now?"  
  
"Well, if I'm not mistaken, he's probably teasing him over the wedding," Sally replied.  
  
"Yes, you're most likely right. Maybe one of us should go check on them."  
  
"I'll go," Sally volunteered. "Will you be all right?"  
  
"Sure, I'll be fine."  
  
"Good. And remember, if any of those ladies come after you with a pin or scissors…run for you're life." Smiling, Sally made her way to the door that Lady Une just entered.  
  
Hilde grinned and leaned back against a doorway to watch the Church being displayed on every channel. Funny, watching your own wedding on television, she thought to herself. Then, she turned to find her shoes and begin the happiest moments of her life.  
  
*********  
  
Soft strains of music began to play. Everyone's eyes were glued to where the bride was to emerge. Duo fidgeted nervously. Mariemaia came out and began to toss flowers. Then, the bridesmaids marched happily up the aisle. Each one was wearing a knee-high, light blue dress, and a blue flower beret in her hair. The men all wore the traditional black suits and looked exceedingly uncomfortable in them. Heero watched Duo from beneath his bangs as he escorted Sally up the aisle. He was not happy, because for the past hour, hairdressers had been trying to comb his hair back, with no luck. Heero, in the end, had told each stylist individually that he would kill them, and left.  
  
Hilde finally emerged from the back with Treize at her arm and started up the aisle. Duo's mouth fell open. Hilde looks hot, he thought happily. Her dress clung to her perfectly, complementing her well-formed curves. A petite bow hung from its back and a thin white veil hid her blushing face from Duo. In her hands, she clutched a bouquet of roses. They finally reached the altar and Duo. Duo reached out his hands for Hilde's.  
  
The priest began. As Hilde and Duo said their vows, they both glowed with a positive happiness and contentment that could be matched by no one else in the room. They gazed into each other's eyes, each filled with a joy neither could explain.  
  
"You may now kiss the bride," the priest's voice broke their thoughts. Duo flung back the veil and pulled Hilde towards him. Rose petals drifted from the ceiling to land all around them. The forty Maguanacs cheered. Quatre's present twenty-nine sisters began to cry. Lady Une sniffled and looked over at Treize who was…stuffing rose petals into his pockets.  
  
"Treize?! What are you doing?" she whispered to him. Treize winced when he realized that he had been caught and shrugged cutely.  
  
"Um…free bath scent?" he replied. Lady had to struggle to not burst out laughing. Senna and Zechs were staring at Duo and Hilde, who were still kissing.  
  
"Don't they have to come up for air?" Noin asked. Zechs just kept staring.  
  
"Disgusting…" he finally muttered.  
  
*********  
  
The reception was beautiful. People danced under the swirling lights of The Plaza's roof. Hilde was basking in the complements and Duo was eyeing the cake and gifts. Soon the time came for dinner. Duo gladly ate everything within reach and then some, while Hilde just watched him. The time came to cut the cake and Duo began to grin evilly at Hilde.  
  
"Here you go, sir," one of the waiters said as they handed Duo a small slice of chocolate cake. Duo's grin widened and he swiftly squished the cake into Hilde's face.  
  
"DUO!!!" she squealed.  
  
"Hil…Hilde y…you should h…ha…have s…seen the l…l…..loo, on your face…w…when…MRMPH!!" Duo's laughter was smothered by a rather large piece of cake being smashed into his face. "HEY!" Hilde just laughed as her little chocolate-covered Shinigami sputtered.  
  
"Stupid onna," Wufei muttered from his seated position. "I cannot believe that they are married and going to have l…little…ch…children…" Wufei's eyes dilated and he began to drink glasses of wine in rapid succession. Sally grabbed the wine away from him when he finished the second bottle in less then thirty seconds and reached for a third.  
  
"WOMEN! YOU WILL GIVE THAT BACK TO ME!" he hollered. Sally leaned over and began to whisper in his ear. Wufei's eyes grew rather large and unfocused as she continued to talk. Sally smiled and leaned back. Her job was done.  
  
*********  
  
The party continued until Hilde decided that it was time to throw the bouquet and garter into the crowds. Duo took extreme pleasure in the garter- getting business, while Hilde just blushed the entire time. Duo then stood at the front of the room and waited while all the single men gathered behind him. Heero was the only one who didn't move from his seat.  
  
Grinning, the God of Death took careful aim and let the lacy garter fly. It was right on target. It smacked the unprepared Heero directly in the forehead and looped one of his bangs before falling into his lap. Heero shot Duo the famous Death Glare and proceeded to stuff the garter into his pocket. Duo's smile widened. He didn't kill me and he kept it! If only Catrina were here to catch the bouquet. Then we could have some real fun…  
  
Every girl (single or not) took one look at Heero with the garter and decided that they would be the one to catch the bouquet. They clawed at each other, trying to get the best place to stand. Hilde swallowed. She would have to throw the bouquet far behind her unless she wanted those girls to attack her. A small hint of movement up in a balcony caught her attention. No way…  
  
Smiling happily, Hilde tossed the bouquet the high into air. It soared over the heads of the drooling girls as they lunged and scrambled to reach it. Not one of them could have reached it. Higher and higher it flew, until it reached the doorway on the second floor. A slender hand clothed with a white glove slipped from the shadows and gracefully caught the rose bouquet in midair. Gasps sounded from around the room as the bouquet was drawn back into the dark, where the mysterious shadow turned and entered the room that was behind her. Hilde's smile turned into a bit of a frown. Why didn't she come down?  
  
Heero, who had been waiting for his fate to be determined and trying to decide whether to run or simply self-destruct when it was, watched the hand catch the bouquet and the shadow disappear. Who could have caught that? he wondered. Very few that I know could do that…and they're all down here with me. He continued to stare where the figure had once stood.  
  
"Heero, you idiot! Go after her!" Duo yelled at him from somewhere across the room. Heero blinked. Duo obviously knew who the shadow was.  
  
"HEERO, YOU BAKA!! GO AFTER HER!!" Duo hollered. Heero over at Duo for a long time.  
  
"Who?" he asked. Duo facefaulted.  
  
"CATRINA!!!" Heero looked as close to shocked as Heero can get.  
  
"Why?"  
  
"AHHHHHHHHH!!!!" Duo screamed.  
  
"Fine." Heero turned and began to make his way up the stairs. He swung open the door to the room Catrina had disappeared in to. No one was in the room, but the window was wide open. He climbed through and down the side of the hotel, ending in a large garden. There was no sign of Catrina anywhere.  
  
Heero walked onward. The path curved around a large lilac bush and as he rounded it, he saw a breathtaking sight. Willow trees hung about an ordinate fountain. Rose bushes ringed the fountain and a single bench. And on that bench, Catrina sat. Her hair was down and blowing about her shoulders. It glistened in the soft moonlight. She wore a long, sleeveless dress that matched her emerald green eyes. White gloves covered her long, slender arms and stopped just above the elbow. She was smiling at him.  
  
"Hello, Heero. How have you been?" she looked him up and down.  
  
Heero just gave her a cold stare. "Where were you?"  
  
"Why? Did you miss me?" she asked sweetly.  
  
Heero blinked in surprise. Where did she get these ideas? he wondered. She just continued to smile at him.  
  
C'mon Heero, aren't you going to talk to me?" Catrina asked. "Come and sit by me," she patted the bench next to her. Heero moved over and placed himself on the bench. He looked over at her. She looked beautiful in her dress with the moonlight haunting her features and her smooth hair.  
  
"Where were you?" he asked again.  
  
"I had to work. You know how that goes. Just another mission," she waved a hand in the air, dismissing the subject.  
  
"I just don't want you to get hurt again," Heero said.  
  
"You don't have to worry about that. I…quit the Preventors with a better future in mind," she leaned over on his shoulder as she spoke. Without even realizing it, he slid an arm around her bare shoulders.  
  
"Are you cold?" he asked her.  
  
"No…" she mumbled. They sat together for a long while until Catrina sat up again and began to gaze at the stars. Her eyes shone darkly as the moonlight reflected off them, making them depthless pools of darkness. Heero watched her for a long time before deciding to speak again.  
  
"Catrina…"  
  
"Yes, Heero?" Heero knew that Hilde had probably told her everything that she knew about his past, but he still knew nothing about Catrina or the life she had led before he had met her.  
  
"What was your past like?" he asked her.  
  
"My past?" Heero nodded. "Well…My mother was Elizabeth Winner. She worked as an Emergency Response Doctor in a rebel camp. We lived together on the Earth in this camp. I was her only daughter. The rebel camp had been plotting to go against the United Earth Sphere Alliance for quite awhile. I grew up with soldiers and weapons all around me. My mother was a sweet woman and made sure that I never wanted anything. We were very close. Then one day, right after I had turned six, the UESA discovered the camp and sent mobile suits to stop us. They killed several of our group. I had been outside the camp at the time. I saw the mobile suits come and go, watched my home be destroyed. When I was able to reenter the camp, no one was there. Most were dead. It took me a long time to find my mother. She was injured beyond help and was dying. She told me…before she died, that I was a very special girl and would always be loved, no matter where I went. Then she gave me her bracelet. I haven't taken it off since she put it in my hand," Catrina halted for a moment and held up her arm. The bracelet that dangled from it was interlocking chain link made from pure sliver. A single charm dangled from it. It was in the shape of a tear, with an emerald inset in the shape of the tear. "After she handed this to me…she…" Catrina stopped speaking again. Heero touched her face lightly. She looked over at him.  
  
"I left the base then and went to live among the street children in the Florence City. Most of my days were spent looking for food. At night, I would hide out in the library until it had closed, and then I would eat whatever food I had. That was how I got an education. I had to teach myself everything with the books that they had there. Luckily, I enjoyed reading and found it was a good way to pass the long nights. I had no home until I turned eight. That was when I was finally caught reading late at night by a guard. The guard took pity on me and brought me home. He fed me and allowed me to stay the next few weeks at his home. He got me a job with his company as a nighttime guard at the library. My employers were never told how young I was. That way I got to continue my studies and get paid for doing it. I began to save up my money that I earned from the job so I could take a DNA test and see if I had any living relatives anywhere. The city I had been living in was targeted for destruction by the UESA because they thought there was another rebel group forming within it when I was about nine or ten. I had to move again. The town I ended up in wasn't a very busy town. I found a job at their local library, in hopes of finishing my education. I really liked the new town that I was in…I think it was called Black Raven. It was the prefect town for me to live, because no one knew about it at the time. The colonies and the UESA just left us alone because there was no threat to either side in the war. Some people there started a runaway shelter for people that had had their families destroyed. Like me. Runaways from all over came to Black Raven and our sleepy little town was beginning to be noticed by the UESA. They decided to mobilize their troops there before they went into space. I left the town, knowing that all civilians would be forced to leave soon, anyway. I was thirteen at the time. After that, I moved from town to town, never staying in the same place for very long. When the war ended, I was sixteen. Then I went to the Preventor Headquarters, in hopes of getting a job there," Heero looked at her.  
  
"Why the Preventors?" he asked.  
  
"Well, for one thing I didn't have a lot of money for the DNA test that I wanted to take as soon as I could. Working in libraries, waiting on tables, stuff like that really doesn't bring in a lot of money. I had heard that the Preventors paid their members well. I was excepted at the age of sixteen and was just finishing my training when Endless Waltz began. Two years later, I had enough money to have the test done. Can you imagine my surprise when I discovered, after years of living below the poverty line and barely being able to afford my next meal, I was part of the richest and most influential family in the known universe. Thanks to the people at the institute and Quatre, we were able to figure out the final pieces of my past," Catrina halted for a moment. She sighed.  
  
"I was named after Quatrine, Quatre's mother. She was Master Winner's favorite wife. (AN: Arabic men can take up to four wives at a time.) My mother, Elizabeth was his second wife. Quatrine was the first in command of the children and the house. She was very kind, beautiful, and righteous. My mother and Quatrine became best friends, and for three years stayed that way. My mother left for Earth a while later to aid the people there with her medical expertise. Nine months later she had me. She didn't want to communicate with her husband because she was afraid to give away the rebel's location. She was going to tell the Winner family until she heard about Quatrine's death in childbirth, when she had Quatre, several months before I had been born. My mother decided that she couldn't tell them about me, since Quatrine had so recently died and I was named after her. It might bring out a lot of unhappiness. So they were never informed about me. Once the base was destroyed, the Winner family was told of my mother's death, but not about me. Not one person knew that I was Elizabeth's child, except for the soldiers that died. Moreover, I had no idea who I was because I was never told about my past and was only six, so I couldn't remember anything either. I didn't know anything for thirteen years. Finally, I had a family, not to mention a rich one, and thirty older siblings. When Quatre discovered that I was his little sister, he was overjoyed not to be the youngest of his family anymore. We became good friends. Then he invited me to the party to meet his friends. So, I came and met everyone, and you," she finished.  
  
"So that's my history. Hilde told me what she knew of yours. I hope you don't mind." Heero shook his head. He knew that it was easier this way. He looked down at her.  
  
"Heero? How long have we been out here?" she asked suddenly.  
  
"An hour and a half," he responded.  
  
"Don't you think that we should be getting back to the party? Don't you think that they'll start missing us soon?" Heero leaned closer to her. Catrina's breath caught in her throat.  
  
"I'm happy that you came back," he whispered.  
  
"Heero…" The kiss was so perfectly sweet that Catrina felt as if she was in heaven. Heero leaned back and stared into her eyes. They were glowing softly in the dark.  
  
"Heero…you…you…" Heero smirked slightly at her confusion before he kissed her again. It was at this moment that Duo, sent out by his wife to find them, stumbled upon their loving moment. Amazed, he stared at his two friends kissing under the moon, before silently slipping back into the shadows and heading back inside, bursting with the news.  
  
1.1 After the Reception  
  
"Wow. That was a beautiful wedding," Catrina said. She looked over at her brother.  
  
"Did you watch the entire thing?" Quatre asked.  
  
"Well, yeah." Catrina shrugged. "I loved the rose petals."  
  
"Why didn't you come down? We would have been happy to see you. Why did you have such a dramatic entrance?"  
  
"Actually, I didn't plan that. I think Hilde saw me on the balcony and decided to aid in my reappearance. Sure did make everything more interesting, though."  
  
"Duo told me that he saw you and Heero in the garden."  
  
"Did he really? I don't remember seeing him."  
  
"He said that you were a bit distracted."  
  
"Oh?"  
  
"From Duo's exact words you two were sitting outside making out."  
  
Catrina choked. "What?! We weren't…we didn't…I…Heero…"  
  
Quatre laughed. "I thought so… Anyway, it doesn't matter, as long as you're happy."  
  
"Yeah…I'm happy around here. I was wondering if I could live with you in awhile."  
  
"I'd love if you stayed with us."  
  
"That's good to hear."  
  
"Do you know when you'll have to leave again?"  
  
"Actually, I'm not leaving anymore," she answered. "I quit."  
  
"You…quit…the Preventors?" Quatre gaped.  
  
"Yep."  
  
"But…why? I thought you loved working with them!"  
  
"I did…found something a bit more interesting to pursue, something more worthwhile." she gave a lazy stretch and yawned. "Well, I should leave now." Catrina pushed herself off the wall and began to walk away.  
  
"Wait!" Quatre called. "Why don't you stay?"  
  
"I'd love to, but I've got a couple of loose ends to tie up before I am officially out of the Preventors. Don't worry, though, I'll be back in a few weeks to take you up on your extension of hospitality."  
  
"Okay...I guess I'll see you soon, then…" Quatre said slowly.  
  
"Don't worry," Catrina said. She walked over to him and gave him a small hug before turning and walking out into the darkness.  
  
*********  
  
A Year Later-Spring  
  
Quatre sighed and looked out the window. Duo and Hilde had arrived earlier that very day, Wufei and Sally had been auguring ever since they had had walked in the door a week earlier, Trowa was his usual stoic self, and Heero hadn't been seen much since Catrina had disappeared. It had taken a lot of tracking down and persuasion to get him out to the mansion in the first place. Quatre sighed again. If Catrina didn't return sometime soon, Heero would probably disappear himself.  
  
"Why so sad, Quatre?" a voice asked from behind him. He swung around to see Catrina leaning in the doorway, wearing short blue shorts, a white sweater, and her black combat boots, with her hair in the usual ponytail.  
  
"Catrina!" Quatre exclaimed and ran over to her to embrace her in a hearty hug. Quatre smiled.  
  
"How've ya been?"  
  
"What took you so long? I hardly think that a year qualifies as a couple of weeks."  
  
"Yeah, I know, know…those loose ends I had to tie up took longer then I thought they would. I'm really sorry. So is everybody really here?" Catrina asked.  
  
"Yeah," Quatre answered.  
  
"Ah…so where are they?"  
  
"Well, Trowa is upstairs sleeping, Duo and Hilde are out shopping, Wufei and Sally went downtown to kick box after a particularly bad argument involving lampshades and paper clips, and Heero went into the forest down by the ocean early this morning on Kudo and no one's seen him since."  
  
"Kudo? When did you get Kudo? I thought that Ash was the last horse you were going to buy. Quatre, you can't save every poor animal you come across."  
  
"I know. However, Heero really liked Kudo and he seems to be the only horse that is suitable for him. All the others were to slow. Oh, and by the way, Ash is here. I hoped that you would show up and I had him brought to the stables," Quatre explained.  
  
"Really. Well, since Ash is here, I think I'll go on a little ride. See you later." Cat spun around and was down the stairs before Quatre could say anything.  
  
"Oh boy," he mumbled to himself. The door slammed downstairs and Quatre could Sally and Wufei downstairs. Well, there goes the quiet…he thought to himself.  
  
"Stupid onna! It's an injustice to be beaten you…" Wufei yelled.  
  
"Hey! It isn't my fault that you are so horrible at kick boxing!" Sally retorted. A choking noise floated up the steps.  
  
"B…bad at…kick boxing? FOOLISH ONNA!!! CHANG WUFEI OF THE DRAGON CLAN IS NEVER BAD AT ANYTHING!!!" he yelled. Quatre winced.  
  
"QUIET!!!!" Sally screamed back. Quatre whimpered. They were too loud for their own good. "If you don't stop in ten seconds, I will not give you the gift I bought for you."  
  
"YOU OF ALL PEOPLE SHOULD KNOW THAT CHANG WUFEI IS NOT TO BE….gift?" Wufei asked. Sally laughed.  
  
"Yes, Wufei, I bought you a gift. It's upstairs right now. If you hang on a minute, I'll go and get it. You stay here. I'll be right back…" Quatre could hear Sally's footsteps on the stairs. This he had to see. Quatre ran downstairs and encountered an impatient Wufei.  
  
"Where is that stupid onna, anyway? It is not as if I have a lot of time! We have things to do!" he grumbled.  
  
"Hello, Wufei. Is something the matter?" Quatre asked.  
  
"Yes! That ignorant onna left me down here when she went to get a 'gift.' It is an injustice to be forced to wait for that…that…ONNA!!" Wufei sputtered.  
  
"Eh…Wufei? She said that she would be right back. Why don't you sit down in the living room?" Quatre suggested.  
  
"What?!? Sit? Why should I sit?" Wufei stormed.  
  
"Well, you could wait for Sally there. It would be more comfortable then standing here and waiting," Quatre finished.  
  
"Fine…" Wufei mumbled. Quatre followed him into the living room and sat down on his leather recliner.  
  
"Wait…you're staying here too?" Wufei demanded.  
  
"Of course! I want to see what Sally is giving to you. Is that all right with you?" Quatre looked over at Wufei.  
  
"Hmph. It makes no difference to me. Weaklings…" Wufei trailed off, talking under his breath to himself. Sally entered the room at that moment carrying a rather large and bulky object covered in a sheet.  
  
"Well, Wufei, here it is. Sorry it took me so long…" she trailed off as she saw Quatre. "Hello, Quatre. And how are you today?" She put the gift on the table before her and motioned Wufei to uncover it. Wufei walked over and pulled the sheet away from a large, wire cage.  
  
"It's…it's a…" Wufei stared.  
  
"Bird, Wufei. Bird. It's called a parrot. And it talks too, see?" Sally leaned in towards the brightly-colored bird. "Hello…" she said to it. The bird's head swung out of its wing to reveal bright green and red feathers.  
  
"Hello," it said. Wufei looked at it warily.  
  
"It will learn anything you want it to say, as long as you say it often enough around him," Sally explained.  
  
"Interesting gift, onna," he said.  
  
"Well, Wufei, what are you going to call it?" Sally asked.  
  
"Call it?" Sally sighed.  
  
"Yes, Wufei. It does need a name, you know."  
  
"What about Buttercup?" Quatre put in.  
  
"BUTTERCUP?!? What kind of a weakling name is that?!?" Wufei burst out.  
  
"Well, I liked it," Quatre began to sniffle.  
  
"I like it too. And you can't seem to come up with anything better, Wufei," Sally said.  
  
"What?! I have already picked a name for it. And, it is not a weak name like you two would call it. It is a name that is only worthy of certain objects that belong to me!" he finished.  
  
"Really? So what is it?" Quatre grinned.  
  
"Nataku."  
  
"WHAT?!? WUFEI!!!!" Sally screamed. Quatre's mouth fell open.  
  
"Wufei…you aren't actually going to name it…Nataku are you?" Quatre asked.  
  
"Of course I am! Weak fools. Shut your mouth, onna. I am now going to take Nataku upstairs and work," with that said, Wufei picked up the cage and headed up the stairs. "I will see you at dinner," he said over his shoulder.  
  
*********  
  
Catrina mounted Ash and rode out into the forest. She rode along for about an hour without seeing any signs of Heero's passing. How could he ride that huge horse through here and not break even one branch? she wondered to herself.  
  
The shadows began to lengthen around the estate as she continued to look for Heero. It must be seven o'clock at least. I wonder where he could have gone…Catrina sighed. Maybe he had already left. Oh, well, I'm sure that he'll show up tonight. She spun Ash around and gave him his head. Ash bolted off towards the mansion. Catrina leaned over his back and enjoyed the rush of wind over her. They arrived back at the mansion just before the sun set.  
  
After giving Ash to one of Quatre's stable hands, Catrina entered a large garden near the side of the house. She climbed into one of the large oak trees and leaned back against its rough bark, watching the last trailers of the sun fade into the night.  
  
*********  
  
Later  
  
"Catrina? Are you out here?" Quatre called into the darkness. "Dinner's ready!" He glanced about. The garden was pitch black. But then, Catrina liked the dark. Heero still hadn't come back and Quatre was beginning to worry that he had left. Wouldn't that be an odd twist of fate, he thought. He moved deeper into the black, continuing to call for his sister.  
  
"Catrina? Where are you? Catrina?" A soft thump came from behind him.  
  
"What Quatre?" Catrina's voice asked.  
  
"Catrina?" Quatre asked while turning. She was bathed in the moonlight and you could see her obvious displeasure at being disturbed in the very way that she held herself.  
  
"What is it? I'm busy," she said.  
  
"Dinner is ready," Quatre said.  
  
"I'm not hungry." Catrina leapt up and disappeared into the trees above.  
  
"What? Hey! Catrina! Come back down here!" Quatre called up to the sky. His only answer was a soft rustling of leaves and needles.  
  
"Quatre?" He turned around and saw Trowa standing in the doorway.  
  
"Over here, Trowa!" he called. Trowa walked over.  
  
"Did you find her?" he asked.  
  
"Yes. Sort of. She said she wasn't hungry and left," Quatre explained.  
  
"Has Heero come back yet?"  
  
"No. Do you think that he's left?"  
  
"Maybe. We'll see soon." Trowa turned back and made his way to the door. Quatre followed him slowly, looking back in hopes that his sister would change her mind and come inside the house for dinner after all. But he had no such luck.  
  
*********  
  
  
  
Morning (One A.M.)  
  
Duo crept from the bedroom that he and Hilde shared into the room across the hall. Wufei's room.  
  
Wufei had showed them all the parrot earlier after dinner. Catrina never showed. Sally refused to come down to watch. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that Wufei had named the parrot Nataku. Duo had liked the parrot immediately. Too bad that all Wufei had planned for it was a lifetime of justice rants. He opened the door to the room and whistled softly.  
  
"Here birdy…" 'Nataku' flew over to Duo and they left the room. Duo headed down the hall to a vacated room.  
  
"Injustice! On the grave of the great Nataku I will have revenge! Weak onna. Awk! Weak. Awk. Weak."  
  
"Shut up you! Wufei sure doesn't waste any time. I wonder how many rants he's taught you already," Duo mumbled aloud.  
  
"KISAMA MAXWELL!!" the bird cried. Duo jumped.  
  
"Shut up!!! Geez, Wufei taught you to hate me too? I'm touched. Now, then, we need to repay Wufei for this gracious favor," Duo said and swung open the door to the empty room.  
  
*********  
  
Quatre yawned and walked into the dining room. The cook was finishing breakfast in the other room and the others should be down soon. He had heard Catrina come in sometime late last night, but hadn't heard Heero return.  
  
Upstairs the others were stirring. Well, most of the others.  
  
"Duo…wake up!" Hilde yelled at her husband. Duo snored on. "Fine," she mumbled. Walking into the bathroom, she got a glass of ice water. "This oughta wake him up." Hilde moved over to the bed. "Last chance, Duo. Wake up."  
  
Hilde shrugged. "Oh, well. I tried," she said before pouring the cold water over Duo's head. Duo let out a loud shriek.  
  
"HILDE!! What was that for?" he asked a laughing Hilde. "That was cold."  
  
"Yes, but if I hadn't done that, you would have missed breakfast and I know that you would never want to miss breakfast. Even if you did have to have a bit of a cold shower," Hilde smiled. "I'm right though, aren't I? Now, if you don't hurry and get dressed, there'll be no food left for us downstairs."  
  
"Food? What time is it anyway?" Duo asked. "Have the others already gone downstairs?" I hope Wufei hasn't asked his parrot anything today, Duo thought. I want to see him when he discovers that I taught his parrot some new words…  
  
As Duo and Hilde left their room, they saw Catrina exiting her room.  
  
"Hey Catrina! How're you this morning?" Duo called over to her. Catrina barely looked up. "Well?" She sighed.  
  
"Fine, Duo," she sighed again. "Just fine."  
  
"I think that she misses Heero," Duo whispered to Hilde.  
  
"Obviously. If only there was something we could do to cheer her up," Hilde mused.  
  
"I've got something…" Duo said, "Hey Catrina! You seem down in the dumps, but I have a favor to ask of you," Duo called to the retreating Catrina.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Would you come with me and Hilde to Wufei's room? I have to talk to him."  
  
"Why not? I have nothing else to do," she mumbled before following him to his door. Duo began to knock on the door.  
  
"Wufei? Um…breakfast is ready! Can we come in?" he yelled through the wood.  
  
"Quiet, Maxwell," Wufei's angry voice called from the other side.  
  
"Why Wu-man? Sally in there?" Duo teased.  
  
"NO! Nataku won't talk today…." Wufei said. Duo snickered.  
  
"Let me come in and see it. I'm sure that I know what is wrong with it!" Duo smiled.  
  
"Fine. I say this against my better judgment, though." Wufei opened the door. Duo marched inside. Catrina stayed behind Hilde, looking at Heero's door. So much that she didn't even notice the parrot. When she did turn around she still couldn't see it because Duo's body now blocked it.  
  
"Time to shine," Duo whispered to the bird. "Well, Wufei, all you have to do is say 'hello' and everything will be fine again," he pronounced.  
  
"Hello," Wufei said to the bird.  
  
"Hey Wufei, wanna shake the cage?" the bird squawked back. Wufei blanched. Catrina stared. Duo crumpled onto the floor in laughter. Hilde watched Duo thoughtfully, wondering how to save his life after Wufei got over the initial shock.  
  
"No….NO!!!" Catrina yelled, leaping backward. Heero decided to reappear at that exact moment in Wufei's doorway, causing Catrina to tumble into him and knock them both to the floor, Catrina on top of Heero. Catrina, who appeared to be terrified of the brightly colored bird, hung on to Heero for dear life. Heero, for his part, seemed hardly surprised.  
  
"Wufei, put the bird away. Catrina is scared of parrots," Heero said in a dull voice. He picked the terrified Catrina up. "She had a bad experience with one when she was younger." He looked down at her. She had cuddled up into his chest, hiding her face from the brightly-colored bird. Wufei hadn't moved, still staring at Nataku. Duo was laughing head off and Hilde was staring at Heero and Catrina.  
  
2  
  
3 Downstairs – Dinner  
  
"Where's the food?" Quatre asked.  
  
"Here it is. Sorry for the delay, Master Quarter," a young maid placed the platter on the table and served each person. Trowa eyed his plate, then began to eat without looking up again. Duo and Hilde burst into giggles.  
  
"We'll have salad," they said in between fits of laughter. Heero, who was sitting next to a still distraught Catrina, watched Duo and Hilde then looked at the meant. Duo and Hilde then the meat. Duo and Hilde then the meat. Duo. Hilde. Meat. Duo. Hilde. Meat. And then he looked up.  
  
"I'll also have a salad," he said. Catrina poked at the meat with her fork for a moment.  
  
"What is this?" she asked Heero.  
  
"You don't want to know. Here." He pushed his salad closer to her.  
  
"Thanks," Catrina said, and began to eat.  
  
"Hey this is really good! What is it?" Quatre asked the maid.  
  
"Oh…it is a rare and mysterious bird that can only be found in…" she trailed off as Quatre began turning green.  
  
"WUFEI, YOU DIDN'T!!!" Sally yelled. Wufei looked slowly down at his salad. Heero and Catrina looked at each other, shrugged, and continued to eat Heero's salad together.  
  
"That poor birdy…he never did anything to us," Quatre sniffled.  
  
"It's all right, Quatre," Trowa said, patting his friend on the shoulder.  
  
"Yeah, Quatre. He went to a better place. By now, there must be a separate heaven for Nataku's. And the bird will go there and eat seeds with Shenlong and fly around the world with Altron and…" Duo continued on. Quatre burst into tears.  
  
"It'll be okay," Trowa said. Then he held up his plate. "Seconds?" 


	2. Chapter Two

Moonlit Past  
  
Chapter 2  
  
AN: I own none of the stores of anything else that has a name brand attached to it. I'm poor.  
  
Wufei, dressed in the traditional Chinese mourning outfit, bowed his head towards the grave. Sally, who had been drinking hard liqueur since Wufei had given Nataku to the cook, watched Wufei for a moment before bursting into giggles. He began to mumble in Chinese about the great Nataku.  
  
He looks so sad… Maybe I should cheer him up! Sally thought. She walked over towards him, stumbled on her outfit, (which was also traditional), and landed on Wufei's shoulder. He looked over at her, clearly confused and angry at the interruption in the ceremony.  
  
"Nataku went to a good use," she hiccuped. "It was real yummy."  
  
"ONNA!!!" Wufei yelled. "Do not talk about the great and honorable Nataku in such a way!" He looked at her more carefully. "Onna, are you drunk?" Sally didn't answer. She just stared straight ahead.  
  
"It was a pretty birdy, wasn't it?" she asked suddenly.  
  
"Quiet, onna!" Behind the arguing couple, Quatre looked over at Trowa.  
  
"This is really sad!" he exclaimed. Trowa patted his shoulder.  
  
"Are they almost done? I'm hungry!" Duo complained.  
  
"Here," Hilde said and handed her husband a candy bar.  
  
"Thanks, Hilde-babe…." Duo said before directing his energy towards the food. Heero and Catrina stood farthest away from the group.  
  
"I am really bored," Catrina grumbled. "It's cold outside, Wufei is sticking an empty casket in the ground because Trowa ate the entire bird, and I don't even understand what he's saying because I don't know Chinese." Heero put his coat around her shoulders.  
  
"Thanks, Heero," Catrina said. The wind blew, sending rain into their faces. "He sure picked a fine day to hold a funeral, didn't he?" She shivered.  
  
"Let's go," Heero monotoned.  
  
"But…what about Wufei? And the ceremony?" Cat asked.  
  
"Do you really want to stay?"  
  
"Um…no, not really. But what about the others?"  
  
"They can fend for themselves."  
  
"Yes, I suppose so," Catrina said. They turned and began to walk away. They got about ten feet before Duo finished his candy bar and began to focus on the others again.  
  
"HEY!! They're trying to escape! And they're leaving us behind!" Duo yelled. Two bullets brushed past either side of his head.  
  
"Duo, honey, don't provoke them. Especially when they are trying to go somewhere," Hilde said, tugging Duo towards her and away from Heero and Catrina.  
  
*********  
  
Next Day  
  
"This place is sooo boring!" Duo groaned, while hanging over the side of the couch. "No offense, Quatre…."  
  
"None taken. Besides, I agree. We should go out and do something today," Quatre stated.  
  
"What, though? The nearest town is…" Duo blinked and began to count on his fingers. "Er…really, really far," he finished.  
  
"We could take my helicopter," suggested Quatre.  
  
"I heard that a new ice rink has opened. It's in the mall," Sally put in.  
  
"And I do need a new pair of shoes," Hilde looked at her tattered sneakers.  
  
"Yeah, and I need a new vest," Quatre said. "So it's decided! I'll go get Rashid to and have him prepare the helicopter."  
  
*********  
  
At the Mall  
  
"Well, we're here!" Quatre said happily.  
  
"Thank god…" Wufei muttered. The helicopter had been so small that no one could fit in it comfortably. Wufei and Duo had argued the entire time. Catrina and Heero just watched. Sally and Hilde were engaged in an interesting conversation about gundanium, which Quatre joined eventually. Trowa just glared at Wufei and Duo from one eye.  
  
"What shall we do first?" Quatre asked to no one in particular. That started a long, complicated argument that would take too long to repeat but was ended when Trowa finally spoke.  
  
"Why don't we all just do what we want and meet somewhere later?" Dead silence.  
  
"Er…good idea…" Duo finally said. Quatre looked around their rather large group.  
  
"Where will we meet?" he asked.  
  
"What about the ice rink at five?" Sally suggested.  
  
"Okay…so, that's it, then?" Quatre asked.  
  
"Yep," Hilde said. The group dispersed. Duo left for the food court, while Hilde went with Quatre and Sally to the clothing stores. Trowa went towards the stylist's shop. Wufei was walking with Heero and Catrina until they walked past the pet store where they had a large display of parrots up. Catrina gulped and ran to the other side of the aisle way, Heero followed her, and Wufei just sorta stopped. He stood staring at birds. Catrina and Heero didn't bother to stick around. They had an ice cream café to visit.  
  
********  
  
Ice Cream Café  
  
"What are we going to get, Heero?" Catrina asked.  
  
"Whatever you want."  
  
"Okay…" The waitress walked over and looked at them.  
  
"What'd want?" she asked.  
  
"A chocolate ice cream," Catrina answered. The waitress waved her arm in the air.  
  
"What about you?" she asked Heero. He pointed at Catrina, signaling that he wanted the same thing as her. The waitress must have been either really bored or suicidal because she asked Heero,  
  
"What? You want her?" Heero, who was not amused by this comment, calmly reached into his jacket and pulled a gun loose. He aimed it at the waitress's head.  
  
"Same," he said. Catrina stared at him for a moment.  
  
"HEERO! You are not allowed to shoot civilians for any reason! We discussed this already!" she said, trying to pull the gun away from Heero. The waitress, who we now know to be unstable, began to talk again.  
  
"Isn't that cute? The girl wants his gun." Catrina didn't hesitate a moment before pulling her own gun out of her jacket.  
  
"OMAE O KOROSU, BAKA!!!" she yelled, leveling the gun. She probably would have killed the girl, had Heero not decided that they didn't want a scene, especially since they didn't have their ice cream yet. He stopped Catrina just as she was about to pull the trigger. He then looked at the terrified waitress, who had finally got some sense and scurried off.  
  
"Can't you wait until after we have the food?" he asked her.  
  
"Only this once. And only because you asked," she responded and put the gun back in her coat. Then they sat back and awaited their ice cream.  
  
*********  
  
Five O'clock  
  
"Where is everybody? I thought that we were supposed to meet here at five," Catrina said and looked over at Heero.  
  
"I left good food so that we could meet nobody?" Duo complained.  
  
"We will have to find them," Heero commented.  
  
"Not another 'mission,'" Duo sighed to Catrina.  
  
"We have to find them anyway. Let's go," Catrina pulled Heero in the direction of the stores. "We'll just start walking and hope that we find them. There are only two levels here and the others might even be heading this way now. We'll probably run into them on the way," she said. The three started off. They passed several stores before they neared the pet shop. Catrina swallowed and walked towards the other side. That was until they saw a familiar figure standing in front of the parrot display.  
  
"Is that Wufei? Didn't we leave him there three hours ago?" Catrina asked. Heero nodded and Duo began to giggle. He ran ahead and leaned over Wufei's shoulder. Catrina and Heero stayed their distance, afraid that Wufei wouldn't appreciate Duo's antics. Duo, however, had no such worries.  
  
"WU-MAN!!" he yelled into Wufei's ear. Wufei apparently didn't notice. He was watching the employees take the parrots into the back for the night.  
  
"Nataku…" he said quietly. Duo walked around him. Wufei seemed to be in serious trance-mode. After all the parrots had put away, Wufei turned and came face to face with Duo.  
  
"AHHHH!! KISAMA MAXWELL!!!!" he bellowed in Duo's face, acting on an instinct. Duo blinked and smoothed his hair back down.  
  
"We were waiting for you," he said as he motioned to the others. Wufei stared.  
  
"Where is everyone else?" he asked.  
  
"We don't know, but we are looking for them now," Catrina explained.  
  
"Oh." Wufei joined the group and began to walk.  
  
"If we could find Trowa…" Catrina began. Heero pointed behind them. Trowa was walking along silently, glancing at the shops.  
  
"Oh…okay…" The group moved down the wide hallway. The mall would be closing soon and they had to hurry and find the others. Well, they had to find Quatre at least so they had transportation. The band moved into a shoe store where Sally, Quatre, and Hilde had started off in. They all entered the small, modest looking store. The three were no where to be seen. Duo began to wander up and down the aisles of the store, looking like a lost puppy dog. Heero and Catrina walked up to the clerk on duty.  
  
"Have you seen a two girls come by here? One had bluish hair and the other had a kind of honey brown hair in twists. They were with a blond male." The clerk stared.  
  
"Well, sorta. I saw three girls in here. One had blue hair; the other had twists, and was a blond. But the blond was a girl and not a guy. Sorry," the clerk cracked her gum. Catrina began to look slightly angry.  
  
"Did you talk to the blond "girl" at all?" she asked slowly.  
  
"Hm? Oh, nope. She only talked to another one of our floor managers," she said. Catrina sighed.  
  
"Where did they go when they left?"  
  
"I think they went to the right…" Catrina turned to Heero.  
  
"I think that we found Quatre and the others," she glared at the clerk, who was busy examining her fingernails. "That blond was a guy. You do realize this, don't you?" she said.  
  
"Naw, I'm sure that it was a girl."  
  
"That was my brother…I think that I would know whether he's a guy or not." Catrina was on the verge of losing it. Heero stepped in.  
  
"Quatre is a guy," he told her.  
  
"You two are really weird. I know another girl when I see her. As for being your brother…I don't think so. You too don't even looking like. I mean, everyone…" the clerk trailed off, staring down the barrel of a handgun.  
  
"Quatre is a boy…" Catrina hissed. The clerk swallowed her gum.  
  
"Of course sh…he is a boy…I was only…j…joking…" the clerk said, trying to cover her mistake.  
  
"That's what I thought," Catrina turned and left the store.  
  
*********  
  
"CATRINA!! DON'T KILL HIM!! HE DIDN'T KNOW ANY BETTER!!" Duo dove over to the counter, where Catrina was presently preparing to attack the eighteenth clerk in a row. Between the entire group, they had just managed to save everyone. Each time, however, it was closer and closer. Duo knocked the gun away from the terrified man.  
  
"Quatre is a guy," she said again. She had been saying the same thing for the past hour as the group had gone in to various clothing stores and shoes stores. Heero stood behind her.  
  
"Where did they go?" he asked the clerk, who was now staring at Catrina, who was glaring at Duo, who was unloading the bullets from the gun, which he was sure he had done already. The clerk, who appeared too scared to answer, simply pointed right. The same direction they had been heading in for the past hour.  
  
As they left the store and began to walk again, Duo leaned over and whispered to Heero, "We had better find them soon. That last one was too close a call for me." Heero nodded. Duo sighed. He then proceeded to stub his toe on the edge of a tile and fall flat on his face.  
  
"Ow… HIIIIIIILLLLLLLLLLLDDDDDDDDDEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!" Duo screamed in his squeaky voice. (The one in the episode where Deathscythe was destroyed by Trowa.) Everybody winced and covered their ears. When they opened their eyes again, they saw Hilde emerge from the clothing store next to them.  
  
"What is it, Duo?" she asked worriedly. Duo opened one eye.  
  
"Hilde? HILDE!!" Duo launched himself of the floor and onto Hilde. They both tumbled backward.  
  
"If Hilde is out here, then that means Sally and Quatre must be in the store!" Catrina said. She rushed into the store, with Heero following close behind.  
  
"I don't see anyone…" Catrina scanned the room with her huge green eyes again. "They have to be here somewhere!" She was about to turn and leave when Sally and Quatre emerged from the back, paid for something at the front, then called over to a young man and pointed towards the exit. Suddenly, several people came out, their knees buckling with heavy packages. They trouped outside.  
  
"Quatre!" Catrina called. Her brother looked up and walked over to her.  
  
"Hello," he said.  
  
"Oh!" Sally said. "Is it almost five?"  
  
"Sally…it's almost eight…" Catrina showed Sally her watch.  
  
"Oh dear, well…I guess we should leave, then." She looked around.  
  
"Did you guys find Wufei anywhere?"  
  
"Yeah. He's outside the store waiting for us," Catrina said. "We should leave now. All the shops are closing and it will only be a matter of time before we'd get kicked out."  
  
OUTSIDE  
  
The clerks walked outside and began to wander to their normal meeting place. They met outside the mall's backdoor every night to talk about customers and boast about profitable sales. However, tonight they all seemed to be skittish and afraid of they're very shadows. The only clerk who wasn't the least bit jumpy was the Gap manager who had a store at the end of the mall. A place where the Gundam Wing crew had never reached.  
  
"What's wrong with all of you? Of wait, I know. None of you reached the profit line and you're all scared that you'll be fired when you tell your bosses, right?" the Gap guy said. The clerk from Payless Shoe Source stepped slowly forward.  
  
"We were all the victims of a terrorist attack," she said. The others nodded. "These weirdo's came in and asked us about these people. I'm not sure what happened, but the next thing we know, the people are threatening us with our very lives," she sniffled.  
  
"I think that they're still in the mall," said another.  
  
"We should teach them a lesson!" another voice chipped in.  
  
"Yeah! They should never mess with us clerks!" They all raised their voices in agreement. Then they huddled in the classic planning circle and began to talk.  
  
*********  
  
BACK INSIDE  
  
"Hurry, or we'll get kicked out!" Quatre began to walk towards the entrance.  
  
"Finally…" Wufei mumbled. Suddenly, the Mission Impossible theme began to play over every speaker in the store.  
  
"What's going on?" Duo screamed. All around them, metal grates began to slide over the shop fronts. Titanium sheeting began to close over the front doors as the music played on.  
  
"NOOOOOOOOOO!!!" Duo screamed. "YOU'LL NEVER TAKE US ALIVE!!" But, he was too late. The last sheet slammed down inches from them as they were sealed away from the outside world forever.  
  
*********  
  
"We'll never get out of here…" Wufei said.  
  
"I'm sooooo hungry…They must be planning to starve us!" Duo announced.  
  
"It has only been ten minutes since they sealed us off, Duo," Trowa pointed out.  
  
"I'm kinda hungry too, though. We haven't eaten since…awhile…" Hilde said.  
  
"Are you really hungry?" Duo asked.  
  
"Yeah…" she answered.  
  
"Then I will save us all!" Duo stood up and bolted away.  
  
"Should we stop him?" Heero asked, looking after Duo.  
  
"No. Where there's food involved, you can always count on Duo," Trowa said.  
  
*********  
  
In the Main Security Room  
  
"Since when did locks become so hard to pick?" grumbled Duo as he stared at the ruined lock pick in his hand. "Oh, well. At least I'm in. Now all I have to do is figure out how to hack into the computer and I can unlock the front door," Duo sat down on a chair and began to work.  
  
*********  
  
Back with the Others  
  
Catrina yawned. Wufei was pacing in front of them. Sally was watching Wufei (as she so often did.) Trowa and Quatre was looking over at the front doors, willing them to open with their powerful brain waves. They had no luck. Hilde was waiting patiently for Duo to return. Heero was silently leaning against one of the metal doors that separated him from a large clothing store.  
  
"Where did Duo go?" Hilde asked. The others shrugged. Suddenly, music began to play from the speakers.  
  
"What in the…" Wufei began.  
  
"AHHHHHHHH!!!" Duo's voice pronounced loudly. "What did I…AHHH! WHAT THE…" the screaming abruptly stopped. Catrina motioned Heero over to her.  
  
"What?" Heero asked.  
  
"Nothing," Catrina replied.  
  
"Then why did you call me over?"  
  
"I think that Duo is in the main control room. I think that it would be dangerous to stay near anything that has an electric current right now. Don't you…" he words were drowned out as Rhythm Emotion began to blare from the speaker directly over their heads. Everyone cringed and covered their ears. Abruptly, silence encased them and everyone looked about, preparing themselves for anything. Catrina and Heero backed into the middle of the aisle, trying to join the others before anything exploded. Suddenly, all of the store's protective metal grates began to slide upward. All the stores were now open. The front door remained closed. All the alarms were off. Everything was available to them. Duo came running from around the corner.  
  
"IT WORKED!!" he shouted. "Now, you can eat, Hilde."  
  
"Thanks, Duo," Hilde replied. "How did you do it?"  
  
"Well, I saw several clerks leaving the mall and I thought that it might be their fault that we were trapped in here. I mean, Catrina and Heero weren't all that nice to everyone when we were looking for Quatre and the others. So, I decided that I wasn't going to let them do that to us and hacked into their main computer system. An easy task for the God of Death, of course," he bowed. "And I opened all the doors. With very little difficulty. See…" his voice faded as he and Hilde went up the escalator towards the food court.  
  
"Well, now that everything is open, we can do whatever we want," Quatre observed. Trowa nodded.  
  
"Ya know, I really wanted to go ice skating today," Sally said. "But, I never like to skate alone…Wufei?" She looked over at a grumpy Wufei in the corner.  
  
"What, onna?" he asked. Sally sighed and grabbed him by the arm, dragging him off in the direction of the ice rink. His screams could be heard from the other side of the mall.  
  
"ONNA! STOP!! WEAK ONNA!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!" he yelled. Catrina stared.  
  
"Um…so what are we going to do?" she asked Heero. Heero didn't move. "And what do you mean by that?" Heero still remained unresponsive. Catrina sighed and began to walk away, hoping to find something that interested her. After a bit of walking, she finally found her way to Radio Shack. Walking in, she glanced back over her shoulder to see Heero patiently waiting for her to enter the store.  
  
"Heero?" she questioned. Heero didn't even blink. "This is becoming very annoying… Are you even listening to me?" Heero continued to stare at some point above her head. "Fine, but if you aren't going to talk, what are you going to do?" Heero didn't make a move. Catrina watched him for a moment before taking a step forward. Heero followed her. She stopped. Heero stopped.  
  
"What are you, my shadow!?" she walked around him. He didn't move. Catrina sighed. "You're acting like Relena would," she said. Heero immediately turned and walked off the other way. "HEY! I was only kidding! Heero!!" Catrina chased after him.  
  
*********  
  
Catrina was wandering about the store when she passed a clothing store full of beautiful dresses. She paused to stare at them. Slowly, a sinister plot began to form in her mind. Hilde walked up next to her at that moment. Catrina pointed to the dresses. Hilde nodded. Both smiled evilly. Sally stepped up next to them. She looked at their matching grins. The two women pointed to the dresses. Understanding dawned in Sally's eyes. The three disappeared into the store, cackling dangerously.  
  
A short while later, Heero walked past the store, looking for something to do. A slight movement out of the corner of his eyes had him looking over at the glass display of the store. A most unexpected sight greeted him. Catrina was where the mannequins would normally reside. She had a huge smile across her face, and was looking right at Heero. Her usual outfit was gone and was replaced by a dress from the store. It was black and dark green, her two favorite colors. It was sleeveless and clung to her. The top was dark green and ended about mid-thigh. From there, a long, shiny black shirt fell past her feet and ended in pools on the floor. She was sitting with her legs folded close to her.  
  
Glancing from side to side up the hall, Catrina smile became larger and she motioned Heero into the store. She stood up slowly, swinging the skirt around slightly. Heero watched her silently. Her grin disappeared for a moment, only to be replaced by a rather suggestive smile. Heero swallowed hard as she turned and walked slowly into the back of the store. Heero instantly stepped into the store's front door. Catrina was there waiting for him. She leaned up into his face and Heero gulped.  
  
"C…Catrina? Wha…?" She grinned evilly as she pushed him into a chair that just *happened* to be there and climbed up on his lap. The skirt covered both their legs. Catrina pressed herself up against him. Little did Heero know that she was actually reaching behind him towards Hilde, who was handing her rope. Heero was so absorbed that he didn't notice her tying him up until she had almost finished. His eyes widened and he began to pull against her knots. Catrina swiftly placed her hand on Heero's arm.  
  
"Don't do that, Heero. It's no fun that way," she said softly. Gracefully she placed her forehead on his.  
  
"Please, Heero?"  
  
Heero couldn't say anything. Catrina knew instantly that their plan would work. Before he was able to recover, she finished her last knot.  
  
"Thanks, Heero. You're a real sweetheart." She bent over and kissed him. Heero's eyes widened and he shivered slightly. Pulling back, Catrina smiled again.  
  
"Promise you won't try and get away?" she asked. Heero could only nod.  
  
"Good." She stood up. "All right girls, I got him." Sally and Hilde appeared out of the shadows and walked over to them. Catrina slid off Heero's lap. Heero looked stunned. Catrina motioned behind her. Sally handed her a gag.  
  
"Let's see here…open your mouth, Heero." Heero shut his mouth tight. Hilde leaned up and whispered something in Catrina's ear. She nodded and put her finger on Heero's lips. She ran her fingernail across his bottom lip and gave him a small smile. Then she leaned down and began to whisper in his ear. Heero visibly swallowed. As Catrina continued whatever she was doing, Heero's mouth fell open. Giggling, Hilde placed the gag in his mouth and tied it. Heero immediately began to struggle.  
  
"Heero…you promised…" Heero looked up into Catrina's shining green eyes and slumped down, hanging his head. Catrina smiled and kissed the top of his head, ruffling his hair.  
  
"Thanks. And don't worry, Heero. I'll make this whole thing worth your while. I promise." Heero gave a slight nod. Catrina turned around to face the others.  
  
"I feel kind of bad about this…"  
  
"It was your idea in the first place..."  
  
"Well, yeah…but…"  
  
"Besides, it'll be worth it in the end."  
  
"I guess…"  
  
"Can you two talk about this later? We have our second victim coming down the hall now…Hilde…Catrina, places…"  
  
A moment later Duo stepped by the store and glanced in. Hilde was sitting quietly on a chair, not moving much, just staring down at her hands. He walked closer.  
  
"Hilde? Is something wrong? Can I do anything to help?" Hilde nodded slightly. She stood up and motioned him onto the chair. Duo plopped down. Hilde tied him up without any resistance from him at all and then broke into a huge smile. She stuck a gag in his mouth and patted his head.  
  
"Duo, thanks to you, I am almost happy again." She dramatically sighed. "However, the only thing that would make me truly happy is if you were to let me dress you up in a pretty dress." Duo's eyes widened.  
  
"Umph…mrumph…ump…MUR!!!" He tried his hardest to pull away and escape, but Hilde was very good with knots, and, so…Duo was stuck whether he liked it or not. Sally and Catrina appeared next to him and grinned.  
  
"Well, that's two. Wufei's next." Duo glanced wildly around. He soon spotted Heero sitting in the corner, patiently waiting for his fate. He looked up when Duo turned his head over and nodded. Duo nodded back. Catrina and Hilde pulled Duo over next to Heero and left him there.  
  
Wufei was angrily looking for Sally. He knew that she had gone down this hallway at some point or another.  
  
*********  
  
Everyone was in the food court after they had all wandered about for awhile. Catrina was sitting alone next to Hilde by the fountain.  
  
"I wonder what the clerks will say when they realize we were able to hack into their computer systems and allow ourselves free everything," Catrina mused. Hilde shifted.  
  
"I don't know. I wish I could see their faces, though, don't you? Listen, I'm kinda hungry again, so…I'll be right back," Hilde said and stood up. Catrina watched her retreating back.  
  
If Hilde keeps eating like this, she'll get fat. Matter of fact, she does seem to be a little heavier then she was the other day. I wonder if…she glanced at Duo. No…Hilde wouldn't be…she would have said something if…they wouldn't have… Catrina glanced in Duo's direction. He was tormenting Heero. Then she looked over at Hilde, who was rooting around in the back of a pizza place. Then at Duo. Then at Hilde. Duo, Hilde, Duo, Hilde, Duo, Hilde, Duo, Hilde…I'm getting a headache…they really wouldn't have gotten Hilde…Back to Duo and then to Hilde again. I cannot believe it…With the realization of something that she should have foreseen a long time ago, Catrina stared, did a funny little gasping/choke noise, and promptly fell into the fountain.  
  
Coughing, Catrina slowly pulled herself from the fountain and began to walk around to the other side of it. Great…now I'm soaking wet and I have no change of clothes. I guess that I'll just have to "borrow" a pair until mine dry out. Glancing backwards, she saw everyone going about their normal duties and activities. Well, at lest no one noticed my little swim. This was the exact moment that she ran smack into Heero, who, for his part, looked as if he was run into by soaking wet girls in a deserted mall at eleven P.M. every night of his life.  
  
"Heero?!" Catrina sputtered. Heero raised an eyebrow.  
  
"Why are you all wet?" He glanced around behind her at the fountain and then looked at her a little oddly. "Where you in the fountain?"  
  
"Yes…but only because I…well, I thought that…Hilde…oh, never mind…" she grumbled. Heero just continued to watch her.  
  
"Are you cold?" Up to this point, Catrina had not felt even the least bit cold, but as soon as Heero asked, she felt the air conditioning blast frigid air upon her and she shivered. "You are cold."  
  
"Great observation," she mumbled. Heero turned and tugged on her arm.  
  
"Let's go," he said and began to walk away. "If you wear those wet clothes any longer, you could get sick." Catrina watched his retreating back. He certainly has a nice way of walking, she thought. Then, as the air conditioner kicked in again, she was jolted back to reality and ran after him, in hopes of catching up.  
  
However, as many of us should know, running when you're wet on a tiled floor is not always the best idea in the entire world. You could fall and break your neck, hit a wall, or, as in Catrina's case, run into Heero for the second time within two minutes, landing on top of him, therefore effectively soaking him and almost killing yourself.  
  
"Sorry," Catrina began when she looked at Heero. He looked so funny sprawled out on the floor of the mall that she began to laugh.  
  
"What?" he growled.  
  
"Nothing…" she managed to gasp between fits of laughter. Heero hadn't been caught of guard for years and Catrina had just managed to not only do that, but to also get him soaking wet. Now they would both have to change their clothing. Heero looked extremely angry with her. But, then again, Heero was usually mad at someone. Normally it was Duo, but she supposed that they all got their chance to make Heero angry with them.  
  
*********  
  
Catrina walked silently out of the store, with Heero at her side. They had both changed in a matter of seconds and were now heading back to the rest of the group.  
  
"Why did you fall into the fountain?" Heero asked her.  
  
"Uh…no reason." That got another strange look from Heero, but she couldn't say anything until she was sure about Duo and Hilde.  
  
*********  
  
A short while later after Catrina and Heero had rejoined the group, everyone was gathered around several tables, preparing to eat several pizza's that Catrina, Hilde, and Sally had all helped make. Duo attacked them first and finished off an entire pizza by himself before the others started to eat. Quatre looked around the table.  
  
"I think that we need to figure out how we're going to escape from here," he said. The others nodded.  
  
"Well, what's today?" Hilde asked. "The mall is open on every day, except Sunday," she finished. The others exchanged looks.  
  
"Oh dear…It's Saturday. That means…" Quatre began.  
  
"WE'LL BE STUCK HERE FOREVER!" Duo cried out.  
  
"Duo, we'll just be here until the mall reopens on Monday. That isn't so bad. It isn't like we're going to starve or anything," Hilde said to her husband. Duo glanced up.  
  
"Oh."  
  
"It's getting late. Where should we sleep?" Quatre asked.  
  
"I saw a store that sold mattresses and blankets on the way in. We could head over there and sleep in that place," Sally put in. Everyone agreed. Soon, the entire troop was heading slowly towards the store.  
  
"Here it is!" Sally said when they were in front of the store.  
  
Hilde wandered over to the sheets and glanced around. She tilted her head back, looked at the ceiling for a moment, and then talked quietly with Duo for a few minutes, gesturing around the room. Then Duo nodded.  
  
"Hey! Heero, Wufei! C'mere. Hilde thinks we should put some of the blankets up like…um…" Hilde whispered in her husband's ear. "Like dividing walls so everyone can have some privacy!" Quatre and Trowa wandered over and began to pull mattresses around. Sally walked off, to find some flashlights and to hopefully manage to turn off the bright florescent lights of the mall. Hilde plopped down on a bench next to Catrina.  
  
"Hey, Catrina," she greeted.  
  
"Hi, Hilde," Catrina returned.  
  
They both sat there for a while and watched Duo's unsuccessful attempts to shove a blanket in the ceiling. He called Wufei over and was soon balancing on his shoulders, sticking the cloth underneath the plates. Heero handed up the sheets to the tottering pair and moved off to the side. A moment later Duo gave a shout of victory after managing to get one sheet up. This frightened Wufei, who jumped back. In the next moment, Wufei, Duo, and Heero were lying in a heap on the floor. Hilde and Catrina both burst out laughing. The pile glared at them.  
  
"Wow…I wonder if we should tell them that there is a chair right behind them?" Catrina said.  
  
"No, don't. This way it's far more amusing," Hilde returned.  
  
"Yeah, I guess you're right," Catrina said as she watched the boys topple over again onto an unsuspecting Quatre and Trowa. They laughed.  
  
"Hilde, I have a question that I've been wanting to ask you all night," Catrina said suddenly.  
  
"I think I know what it is, and, yes, I am, and, no, I haven't told him yet."  
  
"Really? So…how far along are you?"  
  
"Four months."  
  
"And Duo hasn't noticed yet."  
  
"Nope."  
  
"Typical Duo. How are you going to break it to him?"  
  
"I don't know. That's probably why I haven't told him yet…"  
  
"Oh." The two fell silent again.  
  
"So, Catrina, I noticed that you and Heero are spending a lot more time together."  
  
"Well, yes, I suppose that we are…" Catrina responded.  
  
"You seem to have caught Heero's eye," Hilde told her. Catrina looked over at her face to make sure she wasn't joking.  
  
"Are you serious?" she asked.  
  
"Of course I am! Anyone can tell that you have earned Heero's affection."  
  
"Somehow I'm not convinced. It's kind of hard to tell with Heero."  
  
"Well, I know a perfect way that you could test him," Hilde began to grin evilly. "Yep, the perfect way to get the Perfect Solider to react."  
  
"How?" Catrina asked.  
  
"It's really quite simple. You don't mind if Duo knows about you two, do you?"  
  
"No. Personally, I don't care who knows about us. Heero, however, will probably have different views. Why? What are you planning?"  
  
"Nothing much…" Hilde signaled Catrina closer. They leaned their heads together and began to whisper.  
  
Inside the store, Duo looked up and saw Hilde and Catrina begin plotting. He knew that look on Hilde's face.  
  
"Hey, Heero buddy," he called over his shoulder.  
  
"What, Duo?" Heero responded.  
  
"C'mere a minute." Heero appeared by his side.  
  
"What do you want?"  
  
  
  
"Look. See Hilde and Catrina over there?" Heero nodded. "Yeah, well, I've seen that look on Hilde's face thousands of times and it normally means she's plotting something. Because Catrina's over there, I'd say either you or I will get it before this night is out. You understand me?"  
  
"Duo, you're just being paranoid. Catrina and Hilde aren't going to do anything to either of us." Heero moved off.  
  
"Fine. But don't say I didn't warn you!" Duo called after him.  
  
*********  
  
Sally had returned to the group bringing many flashlights and extra batteries. Then she left again. A moment later, the entire mall was plunged into darkness and everyone flipped the lights on. Duo and Heero sat down next to each other in Duo and Hilde's sleeping quarters. Hilde strolled in and the three began to chat.  
  
"So, Heero, how've ya been lately?" Hilde started.  
  
"Fine."  
  
"You and Catrina seem to be getting along well."  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Well, that's always good…Duo, do you have an extra flashlight?"  
  
"Um…sure Hilde. Here." He handed her a large one.  
  
"Thanks. Now, everyone, turn off your flashlights and we'll just leave this one on." She set it in the middle of all of them and turned it on. The boys followed her instructions and turned off the other lights.  
  
"Good. Now we won't disturb the others."  
  
"Spooky, huh, guys?" Duo whispered. Hilde smacked him.  
  
"Duo, you know very well that there isn't anything even remotely scary about a flashlight."  
  
"Ow…sure Hilde…sure…"  
  
They sat that way for a long while, relaxing, before Heero took some notice of the missing person.  
  
"Where's Catrina?" he asked suddenly.  
  
"Hm? Oh, Catrina? I…" Duo began when Catrina popped out from behind the curtain. She exchanged glances with Hilde and grinned. Duo blanched. He had known this was coming…  
  
"I'm right here. Why?" Heero just looked at her for a moment before turning back to the group.  
  
"Heero…" Duo started. Hilde shot him a glare and he shut up.  
  
"Heero? Why?" Catrina asked again. Duo just knew what was coming. Those two had planned the whole thing out. However, it was quickly proved that Duo actually had no idea whatsoever about what was about to happen. He felt a camera pressed into his palm by Hilde. Not saying anything, he took it.  
  
"Heero?" Catrina questioned.  
  
"No reason."  
  
Catrina looked over at Hilde, who smiled at her again.  
  
"Did you miss me?" she asked Heero.  
  
"No."  
  
"Were you worried about me?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Are you lying?"  
  
"…No…"  
  
"HA! Moment's hesitation. I thought so!" Catrina exclaimed and proceeded to sit herself on Heero's lap and pull his head down close to hers. Heero looked slightly surprised, but not largely so. He remained that way until Catrina pulled his head even closer to her own, whispered something to him which Duo couldn't catch, and kissed him softly. Duo's mouth fell open. Hilde jabbed him with her elbow and Duo quickly to a picture of one surprised Heero and one very content Catrina.  
  
*********  
  
By the time everyone had finally curled up within their little tented cubicles, Duo and Hilde had managed to get the film developed. She had been planning to leave the picture under her pillow, but as soon as she pushed back the hanging sheet, she met with a sight quite unexpected. Heero was carefully pulling up a blanket over the already sleeping Catrina, and preparing to move back into his "bed." However, Catrina began to make soft noises, as if she were having a nightmare. Heero bent down next to her and slowly stroked her cheek. Catrina's eyes fluttered open and she stared up into his questioning eyes.  
  
"I had that dream again…the one…about my mother…" she whispered. Heero nodded and held her to him. Hilde watched for a moment before stepping out. When she returned, Heero was fast asleep, holding Catrina is his arms. Catrina was using Heero's chest as a pillow and was also fast asleep. Hilde grinned and slid the picture under Catrina's arm. She was sure that, later on, Catrina would thank her.  
  
*********  
  
The next morning, the entire group gathered in the food court. Catrina and Hilde happily sat themselves together and began to talk excitedly.  
  
"Thanks for the picture, Hilde," Catrina said.  
  
"It no problem," Hilde replied.  
  
They sat in silence for a moment before Hilde looked over at her.  
  
"I saw that Heero decided to stay with you last night," she said.  
  
Catrina nodded. "He does that sometimes when I have…that dream…"  
  
"What do you mean?" Hilde asked.  
  
"I've always had this nightmare where I see my mother die over and over again. I've had it since the day the rebel base was attacked and destroyed. I've never been able to get rid of it, though now it's coming around a lot less. Heero stays with me when I have that dream, so I know that I'm not alone."  
  
"I see…" Hilde responded.  
  
They both stood up and walked over towards Sally and Wufei.  
  
"Hey you two. Good morning!" Catrina greeted.  
  
Wufei grumbled something and leaned back against a glass door leading out onto the mall's patio. The next instant he was outside, lying on his back on the pavement.  
  
"Wufei?! Are you all right?" Sally asked, coming to his aid. "It looks like…hey, wait…Wufei, you found a way out! Great going!" She hugged him.  
  
"Everyone! Wufei found a way out! All we have to do is climb down the balcony!" Cheers reverberated throughout the food court. Duo helped Hilde down, Wufei reluctantly assisted Sally, Quatre and Trowa dropped themselves down, and, much to his surprise, Heero ended up catching Catrina.  
  
They all crowded into the helicopter. Catrina, who ended up smashed between Heero and the door, spent ten minutes trying to get comfortable. Giving up, she whispered something in Heero's ear. He nodded slowly and pulled Catrina onto his lap. Catrina smiled before snuggling into Heero's shoulder and falling asleep. Heero looked happy, for his part. Duo looked over at Quatre.  
  
"So, Quatre, what are we doing tomorrow?" Everyone sweatdropped.  
  
"DUO!!!" Hilde whacked him with her purse. 


	3. Chapter Three

Moonlit Past  
  
Chapter 3  
  
  
  
Quatre sat at the table staring into his cup of tea. It had been about a week since the group had escaped from the mall. It was about nine in the morning, and yet Quatre seemed to be the only one awake. He would expect Duo to sleep this late, and possibly Hilde…especially now… After what Catrina had told him, Duo was in for some sleepless nights. Trowa normally didn't sleep in, but, knowing him, he had probably got up already and was doing some obscure project in his room. Wufei and Sally…well, after living around Wufei for so long, he really didn't want to know why the Justice Boy was still in his room. The only two he really wondered about was Heero and Catrina. Heero was never one to sleep in, and, as for Catrina, she hadn't ever slept past eight before.  
  
At that moment, his sister wandered in. Her hair wasn't in its ponytail, though it had been brushed. She was dressed in a white bathrobe. Looking over at Quatre, she yawned.  
  
"Morning…" she mumbled.  
  
"Uh…good morning, Catrina. Why you up so late?"  
  
"It's not that late, is it?" She looked about for a clock.  
  
"No…not really. But…normally you're up before everyone!"  
  
"Yes, but I didn't get much sleep this last week. I had to work on several problems that Lady Une sent me. She had been having some trouble with her computer system. I checked it out and fixed it. Then I discovered that they had a hacker. Stupid hacker was smart. I hate smart hackers. It took me all night just to pinpoint their location. And even when I did, I couldn't catch them. So I found Heero and he networked our computers together. We trapped the hacker between us and destroyed their connection," she finished. "Now, do we have any coffee, or am I going to have to act like this all day?"  
  
"Well…um…actually Duo is the one who makes coffee. And he isn't up yet."  
  
"Oh…okay…Do we have any liquid substance that has caffeine in it, then?" she asked.  
  
"Of course! This tea has caffeine in it. There's more in the kettle on the burner."  
  
"Thanks, Quatre," Catrina said. Heero wandered in several moments later. He looked almost as tired as Catrina.  
  
"Coffee?" he asked Quatre.  
  
"No. Tea. Caffeine." Catrina pointed to the kettle. Heero nodded.  
  
"Thanks." Quatre stared. Catrina was on her seventh or eighth cup of the tea. She looked as if she was waking up…slightly…  
  
"I'm so tired. I don't like being tired. This tea isn't doing much for me, either. I need some sort of exercise. Something to wake me up. Something…" A dangerous gleam entered her eye. She looked over at Heero. Heero was too sleepy to notice a thing. Quatre, however, did see the look.  
  
"Heero…I think that your life is in danger…Heero?" Heero still wasn't responding. He sleepily glared at his tea. Then placing the mug onto the table he turned and glared at Quatre.  
  
"This isn't coffee," he stated. Quatre sweatdropped.  
  
"No, Heero, that's tea…tea…" he said slowly.  
  
"Tea?"  
  
Quatre sighed. "I thought that Catrina told you that already. She said that it was tea… Didn't you hear her?"  
  
"…"  
  
At that moment Catrina cackled evilly and launched herself on Heero. Heero collapsed on the floor, his face trying to mask its surprise.  
  
"Ca…Catrina? What are you doing?!?" Quatre asked.  
  
Catrina didn't respond. She pushed herself off Heero and ran out of the room. Both men stared after her.  
  
"Wh…what was that?" Heero asked slowly.  
  
"Um…Catrina's idea of exercise?"  
  
*********  
  
Heero walked slowly out of the kitchen. Catrina was nowhere in sight. He sighed, wondering where she had got to. He made his way into the living room. He had just cleared the doorway when Catrina launched herself from somewhere out of his range of vision, and landed on top of him. She was dressed in her normal outfit, and her hair was in it regular ponytail.  
  
"Catrina??" Heero said, surprised. Catrina smiled happily, nuzzled her cheek against the side of his face, and bolted from the room again. Heero stood up slowly, staring at the place where she had disappeared.  
  
Stepping out into the hallway, he was once again confronted with Catrina. This time, she jumped from eight or nine feet, glomped him, and raced off down the hall. Duo emerged from the shadows, laughing.  
  
"So, Heero…what's up?" he asked. "Catrina seems to be in a good mood today."  
  
"Shut up."  
  
"I wonder why…I heard she was with you last night…"  
  
"Go away."  
  
"You and her make the cutest couple!"  
  
"Omae o korosu."  
  
"Aw…we should double date sometime!"  
  
"Quiet."  
  
"You'd like that, wouldn't you? We could go to a movie. The dark movie theater…"  
  
"Duo…"  
  
"Yeah, I know… Anyway, has anyone made breakfast yet?"  
  
"…"  
  
"I thought so. See ya later, Heero. By the way, watch for Catrina. She seems to have discovered a new source of entertainment…"  
  
*********  
  
Several hours later, Heero carefully peered around a corner, searching for Catrina. For the last couple of hours, he had been jumped on, glomped, hugged, and nuzzled from every angle. Duo watched him from a doorway.  
  
"HEY, HEERO!" he yelled. Heero jumped at least a foot in the air.  
  
"Duo…"  
  
"What's wrong, Heero? Catrina making you paranoid?"  
  
"…"  
  
"You seem to be a little jumpy today,"  
  
"…"  
  
Duo laughed again and moved off down towards the study. Heero continued on his way to the living room. He planned to stay there until Catrina found him. As he entered the room, he carefully glanced about; making sure that there was no place Catrina was hiding. He sat down on the couch and was just beginning to relax when Catrina appeared, seemingly from nowhere, and sat in his lap.  
  
"Hello, Heero," she greeted him. Heero started.  
  
"Where did you come from?" he asked her.  
  
"Me? Why, from where I was waiting for you," she answered.  
  
"Oh…" They watched each other for a moment, before Catrina smiled.  
  
"Well, I've got to go…see ya!" She kissed him lightly on the nose and raced out of the room again. Heero touched his nose and blinked. Then he rose and moved down the hall where Catrina had gone.  
  
Entering the study, he glanced about. Just as he expected, Catrina appeared from some corner of the room and tackled him. She lay on top of him and looked deep into his eyes. Her own eyes glinted dimly in the sunlight. Slowly, she leaned down and kissed Heero softly.  
  
And that was the way Duo found them.  
  
"H…Heero? Catrina? What…?" Catrina broke off the kiss and turned towards the speaker.  
  
"D…Duo?" she said slowly. Duo, who had gotten over his initial shock at seeing the two of them on the together, began to grin.  
  
"I'm sorry. Was I interrupting something?" he asked. Catrina blushed and Heero glared at Duo from where he was lying on the floor.  
  
"What's wrong, Heero? You looked pretty happy a minute ago…"  
  
"Omae o korosu!" Heero began to get up, but Catrina pushed him back down.  
  
"Heero, leave Duo alone. You know he's just kidding." She looked down at him. Heero nodded slowly. "Good. Now, Duo," she turned to look at the standing man. "It's not what you think…"  
  
Duo's grin became larger. "Oh, of course. I'm so sorry. Would you mind telling me just what you were doing down there, then?"  
  
"Um…well…H…Heero and I were just…um…"  
  
"Duo? Where have you been?! I'm tired and extremely hungry and you're out here, talking to those two. It's all your fault that I'm pregnant and…" Hilde appeared in the doorway.  
  
"WHAT?!" Duo facefaulted. "You…you're…what???"  
  
"Oops…" Hilde shrugged. "You heard me." Duo swallowed.  
  
"H…how long until…?"  
  
"A little over four months. Aren't you happy?" Hilde smiled.  
  
"F…four months?"  
  
"Yep! Twins!"  
  
"T…t…twins?" Duo fainted. Hilde kneeled by his side.  
  
"Duo? Are you okay? Duo, wake up!"  
  
"Well, Hilde, I think that was an interesting way to break it to him…" Catrina remarked.  
  
"What are you two doing on the floor, anyway?" Hilde asked, looking over at her.  
  
"Um…nothing…absolutely nothing…"  
  
*********  
  
Heero glanced over the table at Duo. He was extremely pale and kept staring at Hilde. When she reached up inside one of the cupboards to get the plates, Duo leaned over and opened his mouth.  
  
"No, Duo, I don't need your help, and, yes, I feel just fine. You just stay where you are and leave us alone. Tease Heero or something. You're good at that, aren't you?" she said. Catrina snickered.  
  
"Duo? Why don't you talk to Heero about today?" Catrina suggested. Duo's eyes lit up and he turned to Heero. Heero glared at Catrina's retreating back.  
  
"Hey, Hilde, would you help me in the kitchen a moment, please?" Catrina said.  
  
"Sure. Duo, finish setting the table. Wufei and Sally won't be here tonight. They're out somewhere together. I think that they'll be out until ten or so. Quatre should be home soon and Trowa went down to the circus to see if he could get an extended vacation, so he won't be here either. Now, hurry up. I'll be right back." Hilde walked into the kitchen and looked around.  
  
"So, Catrina, how's the dinner coming?" Hilde asked.  
  
"Hm? Oh, fine. Could you cut up those carrots please?"  
  
"Of course." They finished the end of the dinner, and carried it out onto the table. Quatre was there, cowering in the corner, Heero was glaring at Duo, waving a gun in the air, and Duo was hiding behind a chair, trying to calm Heero down.  
  
"HEERO!!!" Catrina shouted. "What do you think you're doing?!?" Heero winced. Duo giggled.  
  
"You leave Duo alone!" she scolded, putting the food on the table.  
  
"It's okay, Catrina. He probably brought it on himself. Right, Duo?" Hilde asked.  
  
"Well, not really…I was just asking Heero about when he was going to ask Cat…" Heero cut him off.  
  
"Duo…" he warned. Duo began to laugh.  
  
"What's the matter, Heero? A couple minutes ago you told me that you were going to…"  
  
"Duo…"  
  
"Okay, okay…" Duo laughed again. "Now, let's eat!"  
  
*********  
  
Everyone was gathered in the living room, quietly staring into the fire. Duo and Hilde were a the couch, curled up together. Trowa and Quatre each sat in armchairs, reading. Sally and Wufei were sitting together on the floor. Catrina was lying on the floor, in front of the fire. Heero was leaning against wall, watching the girl by the fire.  
  
Sally stood up and moved out of the room after a few words to Wufei. She returned a moment later, with a box.  
  
"I got you another gift, Wufei. I decided that the parrot was a bad idea, anyway. So I thought you might like this pet a little better," Sally told him. Wufei opened the box and pulled out a little calico kitten.  
  
"So, Wufei, do you like it?" Sally asked.  
  
"It's a cat."  
  
"Yes, it is."  
  
"Female?"  
  
"Of course."  
  
"Good. Then I shall call it Nataku."  
  
"WHAT?!?" Sally shouted. Catrina began to laugh.  
  
"Wufei…You will not call that kitten Nataku. I'll bring it back before I let you do that…Do you hear me? No Nataku!!" Sally threatened.  
  
"Quiet, woman. You are a weakling and don't have the heart to take it back!" Wufei contradicted.  
  
"No…maybe not…but…" Sally looked about the room. Hilde was smiling and looking at the cat fondly. "I can give it to Hilde!" Sally snatched the cat from Wufei's hands and handed her to Hilde.  
  
"Wow! Thanks, Sally! She's a cutie, too!" Hilde had a huge smile on her face as she hugged the little kitten.  
  
"You can keep it as long you don't call it Nataku."  
  
"Oh, don't worry. I won't. In fact, I'll call it Roxy."  
  
"AHHHHHH!!!! INJUSTICE!! WHAT A WEAK NAME!! NOOOOOOO!!! HOW COULD YOU CALL IT ROXY?!?"  
  
"Well, thank you very much for the gift, but I'm really tired. I'm going to go to bed, now. Roxy can sleep with me and Duo. C'mon you two, let's go." Hilde headed up stairs, with Duo trailing behind her.  
  
"I guess that we should all get some sleep. I'm going down to the mall tomorrow… No, not that mall, Wufei, and I'm going to buy a book that I saw down there. If anyone wants to come, I'll be leaving around nine. Anyone?"  
  
"I can't. Wufei and I are going to work on the restaurant profits tomorrow," Sally said.  
  
"And Hilde and Duo are going to be busy later on. Hilde's going to be getting her ultrasound around eleven," Quatre said slowly. "Trowa?"  
  
"I'll be at the circus then."  
  
"Oh…"  
  
"I'll come, Quatre. I don't have anything to do!" Catrina said happily. Quatre smiled.  
  
"Oh, good. For a moment there, I thought that I would have to go all alone. And what about you, Heero?"  
  
"…I'll go."  
  
"Great! Now, that that's all settled, why don't we all get some sleep," Quatre said cheerfully and left. The others followed him up to their rooms. Soon the house was silent and everyone slept.  
  
*********  
  
1 Next Morning  
  
  
  
Quatre waited for the others to appear downstairs. Heero had wandered in some time earlier and was now waiting for Catrina. They had both been waiting for over an hour for her to appear, and she had yet to make a showing.  
  
Finally, Heero got bored with sitting at the table and he stood up.  
  
"I'm going to go upstairs and see if she is awake," he told Quatre.  
  
"Good idea…I'll…um…stay here…" he responded. Heero nodded and walked up the stairs. He knocked on Catrina's door. There was no answer. Not bothering to try again, he pushed open the door and stepped into the room. Catrina was no where to be seen. Her bed was unmade and the entire room was one giant mess.  
  
"Catrina?" Heero called. Still no answer. As he wandered about the room, he began to pick it up. Clothes went into a pile, random stuff that was scattered about the floor into another. He even made the bed. Catrina still hadn't shown up by the time he had reorganized the entire bedroom, so he began to wander about.  
  
He found the door to the bathroom and pushed it open, expecting to find another mess. However, he found Catrina in a little white towel, quietly putting her wet hair into a ponytail. She turned at the sound of the door opening. Heero blinked. Catrina moved back slightly in surprise and the towel slipped down slightly. She pulled it closer to her and stared back at Heero.  
  
"Ack! Heero what are you doing in here?" she asked, trying not to let the towel fall. Heero didn't respond. Slowly, a slight blush began to tinge his cheeks.  
  
"Quatre and I were waiting for you downstairs and I came up here to see if you were still sleeping…" he said.  
  
"Well, you could have knocked!!" she said, still fighting with the little towel. It slipped down further. She plopped down in the corner, and pulled the towel up in an attempt to cover herself. Heero's blush became worse at the sight of her glaring at him from her position on the floor.  
  
"I did knock. You just didn't hear it."  
  
"Fine…that's just fine. Now, would you mind leaving? Tell Quatre I'll be down in a minute."  
  
"Do you want me to help you up?" Heero asked her, before realizing that she planned to stay there until he left the room.  
  
"No, I do not want you to help me up…If you do then this towel will fall right off and you know it, too!" Catrina snapped. Heero bent down next to her.  
  
"I didn't mean it like that…" he said slowly. His face was right next to hers.  
  
"I'm sure you didn't! Now…thank you for coming up to see if I was all right…why don't you go back downstairs and wait for me there," she said and began to push him back with one of her feet. Heero grabbed her leg.  
  
"But I like it here."  
  
"HEERO!! This is no time to be un-Heeroish. You go back downstairs! Quatre will be wondering where we are!"  
  
"So?" Heero began to tug on the towel.  
  
"Oh, no you don't…my towel…do you hear me? Mine…" Heero paid no heed to the girl.  
  
"Heero…don't make me fight back…"  
  
"You can't."  
  
"What do you mean, I can't? I can fight back!"  
  
"Not if you want that towel to stay on…"  
  
"What?! Hey! This is unfair!" Catrina shouted while trying to keep her towel covering her.  
  
"Heero…I'm warning you…let go of my towel!"  
  
"No."  
  
"Why not? You leave my towel alone!!"  
  
"No."  
  
"HEERO!!" She kicked at him with her other leg. This hardly bothered Heero, however, who simply grabbed her other leg in his hand. With both her legs trapped, and her hands busy holding up her towel, Heero was able to do whatever he wanted to, without any resistance from Catrina at all. His hand was inches from her towel, when Quatre appeared in the doorway.  
  
"Hey, Heero…did…you…find… WHAT…ARE…YOU DOING WITH MY LITTLE SISTER!!" Quatre's eyes took the gleam of the Zero System.  
  
"It's okay, Quatre…I…um…slipped and Heero was helping me up. Weren't you Heero?" Heero nodded.  
  
"Oh…okay…well…Heero and I will wait for you downstairs. See you in a couple minutes, kay?"  
  
"Okay, Quatre…" Catrina watched the two go. Heero glanced over his shoulder before closing the door. He had a self-satisfied smirk on his face.  
  
"Bye Catrina," he said softly. Catrina glared at him.  
  
*********  
  
Ten minutes later Catrina arrived downstairs, wearing clothes. They piled into one of Quatre's helicopters. Abdul was at the front, waiting for the three of them to enter. Quatre sat in the back with Catrina while Heero sat up in the front, taking on the role of the co-pilot.  
  
Catrina leaned back into the seats and began to chat with her brother. Heero sat up in the front, doing nothing, while Abdul happily flew them towards the mall.  
  
Half an hour later, they were there.  
  
"Now remember, Abdul, this time if we don't come back in two hours you come in after us with the others. Is that clear?" Quatre asked. Abdul nodded. "Good. We'll see you in two hours at this spot."  
  
The three walked into the smallish mall and headed towards the bookstore. On the way there, they saw a pet store, with several puppies in the display. Quatre, being the sweetie he was, instantly went over to them and began to talk to them through the glass. All the little dogs rushed up to him except for one tiny golden Labrador. Catrina noticed this and walked inside the store. She spoke to one of the clerks, and, this one not being an animal lover of vast proportions, roughly picked the animal up, and dropped it into her arms. As soon as Catrina was holding the little pup, it began to squirm and happily lick her face.  
  
"Oh, Heero, look! She likes me! Aren't you a cutie!" She began to talk to the dog. "I wish that I could take you home with me!"  
  
"Why don't you?" Heero asked her.  
  
"Why? Well…um…Quatre probably doesn't want a dog." Heero looked over to the glass. Quatre was holding two little fluff balls, trying to hush them up and stop them from covering his face in sloppy puppy kisses. Heero looked back at Catrina and raised an eyebrow.  
  
"Okay…so he would love to have another animal around. But…I'm already living there with him and using his quarters and such…and I just don't want to bother him with anything…I think that if I got a dog, and he might have to take care of it sometimes, and…I don't want to stick him with anything else. I'm not sure if he even likes me hanging around all the time."  
  
Heero watched her and the dog for a moment before nodding. "We should get going then. Quatre needs his book."  
  
"Yeah…I guess so…" Catrina looked sadly down at the little dog. "Too bad. I really liked this one."  
  
Heero smirked secretly and walked over towards Quatre. It took a much longer time to find the book that Quatre wanted, because Quatre is quite addicted to bookstores. The three stayed in the tiny corner shop for over an hour, marveling over one book after another. Catrina was distant from the others. She participated with the shopping, but her mind was obviously somewhere else. Heero watched her out of the corner of his eye, and conversed quietly with Quatre on a few occasions.  
  
Much later, the group appeared out of the mall, trying to drag what looked like some thirty-seven bags of heavy books. They finally reached the helicopter, but Abdul made the conclusion that they wouldn't be able to carry so much weight on a single helicopter. So, with the use of his cell phone, Quatre had Rashid come down to get the books. Catrina and Quatre returned on the helicopter with Abdul, while Heero stayed behind, sitting amid a huge pile of bags, getting strange looks from the people walking around him, waiting for Rashid.  
  
*********  
  
1.1 Dinner  
  
Everyone was gathered around the table, happily eating. Duo, who was now fascinated with every move his wife made, stared at Hilde while shoving food into his face. Hilde was more graceful then her husband, though slightly unnerved with his constant staring. Catrina was still quiet, and was thinking her own thoughts. Heero was eating, not doing much other then eating, except for the occasional glance over in Catrina's direction. Quatre was conversing with Sally. And, from the looks of it, Trowa was having a staring contest with his roast beef. Wufei, who had accidentally stabbed himself with his fork earlier, was now outlining why one should never stab the Great Wufei.  
  
The group finally dispersed and everyone went their separate ways. Sally wandered off with a medical book under one arm, Wufei left to train outside, Hilde walked towards her bedroom, with Duo following at her heels like a little dog, and Quatre and Trowa sat down in the living room for a game of chess. Catrina sat at the table by herself for a few moments after everyone had cleared out, then she too stood up and began to make her way to her own room. Before she had taken more then three steps from the dining room, Heero stepped around behind her and covered her eyes. Catrina started, because she didn't know who the hands belonged to.  
  
"Wha…?" she began. Heero leaned down to her ear.  
  
"It's me," he whispered.  
  
"Heero? What are you doing?" Catrina asked. Heero didn't answer. He tugged her towards one of the rooms. Catrina heard a door open and close and a slight rustling sound off to one side of her. Heero turned her towards the sound and moved him hands away from her eyes. Sitting on Heero's bed was the same cute little puppy from the mall that Catrina had been holding several hours early. It was wearing a big green bow that had flopped down onto one side and was tripping it up whenever it tried to move. The entire bed was one giant pile of feathers. The little dog looked up with feathers falling from its mouth and a pillowcase hanging from her ear. She gave a tiny bark and tried to leap over towards Catrina and Heero, but the giant bow got in her way again and she ended up landing somewhere in the middle of the bed, sending feathers flying everywhere.  
  
"My bed…" Heero mumbled behind her. Catrina took no notice of what he was saying, however, for she was far too happy about the small furball squirming about to notice anything else. The little animal finally managed to untangle itself from the ribbon and leaped off the bed, towards the overjoyed Catrina. She picked up the tiny puppy and hugged it. Heero watched her back, feeling a slight sense of happiness as she bent over the tiny mass. Suddenly, she spun around and came within inches of his face.  
  
"Heero! You bought me the puppy! That's so sweet of you! Oh, thank you!" She threw one arm around Heero and kissed him happily. Heero was very surprised by this sudden development, but not unhappy in the least bit. The puppy, not about to be left out, leaped up between Catrina and Heero, balancing itself between their bodies, began to lick both their faces in sloppy puppy kisses. Catrina burst out laughing and pulled away from Heero. Unwilling to let her go so easily, Heero held onto her arm until she moved away from him.  
  
"Now what should we call you?" Catrina asked the dog. She wiggled. "Hm…" She looked over at Heero and smiled slightly. Heero watched her without moving much.  
  
"What about Shadow?" she asked. The dog barked its agreement. Catrina's smile grew. "Good! We both like it, then!" Heero twitched.  
  
"Well, Shadow and I are going to go outside for awhile and get some exercise in. Wanna come?" Catrina asked Heero. He frowned. Whenever she wants exercise, she always pounces on me. What is she thinking, playing with that animal when she could be leaping out of doorways and knocking me down? he paused. Fine, then. Why should I care if she wants to play in the backyard with that dog instead of glomping me? He sighed rather loudly.  
  
"No thank you, Catrina. I have to do some work on my computer."  
  
Catrina looked slightly hurt. Since when is that stupid computer more important then me? Well, maybe he really does have something to do. Otherwise, I'm sure he'd come with me…I think. She smiled and left the room. Heero sat on the bed, trying to gather what was left of his pillows into a pile, and watched her go. 


	4. Chapter Four

How amazing! If anyone actually stayed this long with me and my story…thank you so much! I love you all! Anyway, I am still open and excited about getting comments! The address is catrina_winner@sailormoon.com. Okay…here's the forth chapter! Yay!  
  
   
  
Moonlit Past  
  
Chapter 4  
  
The night surrounded Catrina and Shadow, pressing the forest closer to them. Over four months had passed and Shadow was now a full-grown Labrador. She trotted next to Catrina, panting softly. Catrina seemed overly distracted, even more so then usual. With a soft whine, Shadow slipped ahead of her a few feet, before falling back to her side.  
  
"What?" Catrina looked down at the dog. She finally began to notice her surroundings, and realized how dark it had become. "Oh no…not again. C'mon, Shadow, we had better run home. Quatre is going to be so mad at me for missing dinner again…" Both bolted towards the house, running gracefully like a pair of deer, one tall and one small. They reached the house in little over half of an hour, and the air around them now pitch black. Catrina pushed open the door and ran inside, carefully closing it as quietly as she could after Shadow was in. Grabbing the dogs collar so she would make no noise, the two of them began to creep towards the stairs. If they could only make it upstairs…  
  
"Catrina, where have you been? You are driving me nuts staying out late like this!"  
  
*Nod.*  
  
"Um… Hi Quatre, Trowa. I was just taking a walk around the property… That's all. I never went beyond the fence!"  
  
"…Catrina, my property here is about a twenty miles in any direction. You know I did that for privacy. How can you say that you only went on a walk around the property?! That's almost a hundred miles! First, you started to live in the library, then, you decided that you would rather hang out with the animals around here for hours on end rather then see your own brother that hasn't known you until recently, and now, you just leave and wander around until late at night when you try and sneak into the house! Do you know how much I worry about you? If you would at least tell me that you were leaving and wouldn't return for an entire day then I could understand. But just disappearing is insane! I can't take it anymore! And it's not only me, but it's Heero too! He went out to look for you and found absolutely no traces of you! When he got back here, he was actually worried about you. He wanted to keep looking for you, but I told him that it wasn't worth it because you wouldn't come home until you wanted too. Why have you been doing this? Is something bothering you? And if it is, why haven't you come to me, yet? I want you to stop leaving at absurd hours of the night or morning or whatever and join the human race!" Quatre blinked, seeming surprised at himself.  
  
Catrina swallowed and stared at her older brother.  
  
"Quatre…I don't care what you think! I like being by myself! Before I was always alone! And then, just because I discover that I have a huge family that is richer then anything I can imagine, you expect me to change my ways! All I want to do is be alone and I don't think that I need to tell you everything that I do all the time! I am not a little kid! I lived on my own for most of my life and will continue to do so! And nothing you can say can stop me!" Anger flashing through her eyes, she turned and stomped up the stairs. Quatre heard the door slam, and then everything was silent. He turned to Trowa.  
  
"Have you ever seen her like that before Trowa?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Why in the world was she acting like that? Is there some reason she is mad at me? Was I too harsh on her? I knew that I shouldn't have taken Duo's advice to just tell her what I was thinking."  
  
"No…it was fine, Quatre. She isn't mad at you, rather someone else. I think that she has more on her mind then she prefers. Maybe you should go in and talk to her, quietly and try to figure out why she is in such a mood. However, from the way she responded to your questions, I can guess that she is under a lot of stress and will probably not take whatever you say very well."  
  
"Um…will this be anything like the time that she fractured her leg and had to stay in bed for weeks and everyone made me take care of because I was her brother and 'the only one that could control her'?"  
  
Trowa took a moment to think. "It will probably end up worse then that little incident. Catrina needs someone to vent on, and, well, whoever talks to her about her state of mind will put themselves in the position for Catrina to vent on."  
  
"Worse?"  
  
"Worse."  
  
"Oh no…I can't deal with that! Catrina… Who else would talk to her? Who would let her vent on them?"  
  
Trowa sighed and put his hand on Quatre's shoulder. "Maybe we should give her some time to herself and not bother her for a month or two. When she feels like it, she'll talk to you. Otherwise, I have another plan if she still continues to disappear, but it will take a month or two before I can actually do anything. Does that make you feel better?"  
  
"Well…I guess so. I still wish that there was something that I could do to find out why she is so unhappy."  
  
"Everything will turn out okay, Quatre, I'm sure it will."  
  
*********  
  
A month later, the late afternoon light filtered through the window, finding Quatre, Trowa, and Heero reclined in the library. Catrina had "gone out" again last night around nine and hadn't returned yet.  
  
"Do you think that there could be anything more to worry about?" Quatre asked the two others across from him. Duo had called in around two A.M. from the hospital with news that Hilde had just gone into labor. That was when they discovered that Catrina had gone, taking her horse and the dog. Quatre was worried about her, but, then again, she had always come home before. And they were all very impatient about Hilde and her children.  
  
Suddenly the vidphone began to ring. Quatre lunged for it and swiftly answered it.  
  
"Hello?"  
  
Duo's happy, extremely tired face appeared on the screen. He waved a bandaged hand at the assembled group.  
  
"You wouldn't believe what I've been through."  
  
"Nice to see you too, Duo," Heero mumbled.  
  
"Duo! How's Hilde and the kids?" Quatre was almost bursting with excitement and worry.  
  
"Hilde is fine. The doctor said she only has to stay in the hospital for another two days before she can leave. And the kids…well…they are…um…noisy, I guess. I haven't been able to talk with my wife for more then a moment without one of them starting to cry or 'talk'. You should hear Hilde. 'Oh look Duo, he's trying to say something!' 'He's talking to you, Duo!' Man, I have never seen her so happy before," he smiled.  
  
"Hey, Duo, what happened to you hand?" Quatre asked, noticing the bandaged fingers for the first time.  
  
"Oh, that? Well…Hilde broke four of my fingers and fractured my wrist," he winced at the memory. "The doctor said that they would be healed in a month of two."  
  
"Hilde…broke your fingers?!" Quatre asked in amazement.  
  
"And fractured my wrist. As I see it, I guess I kinda deserved it. Though I think that the name calling was a bit much. Oh well. It's all over now! Thank goodness for that. Oh, by the way, is Catrina around? Hilde asked me to see if she could spend a moment and talk to her."  
  
"Um…actually, we haven't seen her since yesterday. You see, she has been under a lot of stress lately, and is apparently coping with it by disappearing for several days on end," Quatre explained.  
  
"What are you talking about, Quatre? I don't think there is anything in the world that could cause Catrina enough stress that she would have to disappear!"  
  
"Well…" his gaze flickered over to Heero's stony features for a moment, "apparently there is."  
  
"I think that I understand. If you need any help with her, let me know and I'll…um…do…something."  
  
"Thanks, Duo. Would you tell Sally that I sent her the documentation that she asked for earlier this week?"  
  
"Yeah. So, how…" Duo was cut off when a rather loud wailing noise erupted from behind him. "Oh man, not again. Look, guys, I have to go. If you would talk to Catrina the next time you see her, Hilde would be thankful. Um…see ya later!"  
  
"Bye Duo! Good luck being a new dad!" Quatre said as the vidphone flickered off. He yawned and looked over at the clock.  
  
"It's already seven o'clock! And we haven't even eaten dinner yet! Oh dear…" Quatre jumped up and proceeded to herd everyone into the dining room. Heero lingered, staring at the vid-phone, which held his long-time friend's face only a moment ago. Then his gaze tripped up to the window where he could see the sun setting behind the coastline. The ocean was bright, orange and red coloring the water. The sky itself appeared to be going up in flames. It almost appeared as if there was a huge battle occurring far off in the distance, and the explosions were staining the pure clouds. For a single moment, Heero's mind was filled with the screams of the dying. He couldn't hold back a violent shudder.  
  
Why must I think of these things? Why can't I just forget about the war and the killing?  
  
He sighed, softly, because he did not want Trowa or Quatre to hear him. Even with the war over, he realized that he could never become like "normal" people. He might be able to get close, learn to smile and laugh over time, but he could never be what the others were. The training he was forced to endure as a young boy had broken his sprit. He felt as if he was still waiting for orders to move out and kill again. Just waiting…  
  
*********  
  
The three of them were gathered around the table. Trowa and Quatre talked quietly about Duo's new children. Heero stared down at his food, pushing it around, his mind in other places.  
  
"Heero? Have you heard a word I've said in the past ten minutes?" Quatre asked.  
  
"Hn."  
  
"Heero, is something wrong? You seem upset."  
  
Heero raised an eyebrow. The look on his face asked what was wrong with Quatre and of course there was something wrong with him, couldn't he tell? But all he said was, "Hn."  
  
Quatre sighed. "You've been unhappy for quite a while, Heero. I am beginning to worry about you. As if it wasn't enough that Hilde just had two twin baby boys, whom we don't even know the names of yet, and Catrina is having a hard time coexisting with people, but now you have to go and become upset over something, too. Please Heero, if something is wrong, would you just tell us and get it over with?"  
  
Trowa glanced over at the two of them and nodded. "Quatre is right, Heero. You need to let us know what is bothering you so we can help you out with whatever you ne-"  
  
Heero slammed his fist on the table. "There is nothing that is "bothering" me, Trowa." He pushed his chair away from the table in a violent shove and stomped from the room, a deadly glare etched upon his features.  
  
"Heero?" Quatre looked stunned.  
  
"I know what's wrong with him," Trowa said. Quatre looked surprised.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Heero is unhappy with your sister's recent behavior because I believe that he has grown very fond of her in these past few months. He wishes to know what is wrong with her so he can comfort her and therefore become closer to her and enter her ring of trust, which, though he doesn't realize it yet, he is all ready in."  
  
"Wow, Trowa! You should have been a psychologist!" Trowa blinked and said nothing. The two of them retreated to their separate rooms as the night continued to age. Heero, however, did not join them in their retirement. He stood outside on the balcony, quietly staring off into the thick night. Trailers of fog twisted their way through the towering trees. A soft mist filtered down around him, sticking to his eyelashes. Heero noticed none of these things, however. He was too caught up within his own thoughts and musings. The recent dawns had taken on the appearance of bloodstained skies. Little did he know that Catrina had noticed the same change in the surrounding atmospheres, and it had triggered something inside of her that she had been working to forget for years. Once the dark had sheltered him from his sins, but tonight in only crowded his mind and made it even harder to sort through his jumbled thoughts.  
  
*********  
  
Catrina wandered through the forest, searching for something she knew she would never find. Her body cried out for sleep, and she wanted nothing more then to lie down and rest, but if she risked that…it might come back. It could continue to haunt her. Destroy her.  
  
In her mind she cursed the sunrise. It was the cause of all her pain. In the end, it always was. The beginning of a new day always reminded her of how her mother hadn't had the chance to see it. But the blood in the sky. It was horrible. It made her think about the day she had been in the flowers when the sky was darkened forever. The sky had been bloody that day too.  
  
Tears ran down her face. She wiped at them, not realizing it as she did. The pressing darkness had fallen around her a short time ago and now consumed the trees around her, cutting her sight down to a mere five feet. It bothered her little, though. Being blinded be fog and dark wasn't something she wanted to concern herself with. Not today.  
  
Where could she go? There was no place to go… She was stuck here, not able to leave this place. She had too many things to think of, too many things to finish. She sat down on the grass, feeling its moistness soak through her jeans. She ignored the discomfort and lay down. Though she hadn't slept for almost a week, she still wouldn't allow herself to drift off. If she did, the dream would return. It would return. Her mother and the blood. All the blood.  
  
She groaned and flopped a hand over her eyes. She could feel the wetness making her hair stick together. I don't want to think anymore. I want to sleep. No! I can't sleep… The dream will come back! But I'm so tired. I want to sleep. I need to sleep. No…I don't need to sleep. There is no way. I…I…  
  
The ache of fatigue soon took over her body, and she closed her eyes.  
  
*********  
  
Heero squinted into the dark. It was almost pitch black. He could hear Quatre in the background of the house, calling for Catrina, in hopes that she had returned. There was no answer to his strained calls.  
  
Heero sat, thinking. He had to admit that he, too, was curious as to where Catrina had gone off too. There were simply too many places that she could be, where she could hide. And, yet, Heero felt that he owed it to Quatre and, even to Catrina, perhaps, to find where she hid. It was important to Quatre. He needed his sister.  
  
Somewhere, in the back of his mind, Heero thought that he might need her too.  
  
*********  
  
Heero walked out the door, closing it silently behind him. He wished he knew where to begin his search. The only thing he was surrounded with was trees. Lots of trees. Thousands of places for someone like Catrina to hide.  
  
This could be harder then he thought. Even as he wondered where to go, his feet, almost from there own volition, began to walk into the woods. Heero moved in a straight line. Inside, he felt as if he knew where he was going, and where Catrina rested. In his mind, Heero began to wonder if he was going insane. There was no way that anyone could know where Catrina was, unless she had told someone, which she hadn't, or left some obvious trail at the opening of the woods, which she also hadn't done. Why, then, was he so determined to continue the way he was going?  
  
*********  
  
Shadows patterned the entire area in their delicate webs. Buildings and mobile suits loomed in the distance, casting a dark and foreboding feeling throughout the surrounding valley. A young girl, with her chestnut hair bound up in a ponytail, was bent over; picking the brightly colored wildflowers that grew there. Wind shook their stems lightly, and blew the tiny child's hair about. Puffy white clouds drifted lazily through the sky. The day was alive with the songs of birds.  
  
In her young, child-like mind, the wondered if her mother would like the pretty flowers that she picked for her. She reached down, intent on picking a beautiful gold and purple flower free from the ground to complete her mother's bouquet, when, abruptly, the soft quiet of the day was shattered, and the normality of her life was altered forever.  
  
Behind her, the powerful military base, her home, exploded. The ground shook and tossed the child off her feet. Screams of the dying suddenly covered the land like a heavy cloud. The bird songs cut off abruptly and the white clouds turned a deep maroon color, looking like the sky itself was bleeding. Debris rained down throughout the valley and all around the little girl. Burning wood and smoldering metal landed next to the poor, confused child. In moments, the only signs of the beautiful valley that had once resided there, snuggled between the mountains, was clutched in the tiny girl's hand. The flowers she held seemed to wilt before the heat and devastation that they faced.  
  
Standing, the little girl stared at the blackened shell that had once been her only home. Her mother had been in the base when it exploded. But…why would anyone want to hurt her mother? No one would want to hurt her! Not on purpose… The little cherub's eyes clouded with tears as the shining flowers dropped from her fist. She began to run back towards her home, where the painful screams of the dying could still be heard with a clarity that she would remember all her life. She was crying out her own mother's name as she tried to get her short, stubby legs to carry her back to where she was needed.  
  
When she finally reached her home, the last of the enemy's mobile suits were disappearing into the distance. However, her mother was no where to be found. She wasn't near the dark husk of their house, and she wasn't outside in the singed garden she kept.  
  
Sirens shrilled to deaf ears, and dead bodies littered the streets. Few were moving. Those who were seemed in such pain that the little girl somehow wished that they weren't moving at all. She ran up and down the compound rows, searching futilely for her mother. Finally, she located her between two wounded soldiers, who were trying to help her stand. In horror, she could only stare at her once beautiful mother. Half her face was covered in blood, and her left side mangled beyond recognition.  
  
"Mother!" The girl ran towards the half-dead woman, who slowly opened one of her eyes. The soldiers hadn't been able to raise her more then a foot off the ground without her crying out in pain, so they carefully leaned her on a slab of rock. The woman reached her hand out for her little one.  
  
"You…you're okay?" She asked in slow, halting words.  
  
The girl, with tears pouring out of her huge, emerald eyes, she nodded. "I was picking flowers. For you." Realizing she had dropped all her flowers, but a single one, she held it out for her mother. It was a tiger lily.  
  
Her mother smiled, and, although it obviously pained her, reached up for the flower and her daughter. She pulled the girl close to her, and took the flower.  
  
"Thank you…it…it's beautiful. Now…I have…" she winced suddenly, "something…for you. Please take…it and…"  
  
"Mother?" The little girl's eyes widened.  
  
"It's okay, sweetie. I'll be fine. But…I want you to take this…here…hold out your arm…" The girl did as she was told.  
  
The bloody, dying woman lifted her own arm and unclasped a bracelet that rested there. It was interlocking silver with but a single charm. The charm was a tear-shaped emerald that caught the rapidly fading light.  
  
"But…mama, that's your favorite bracelet!" The girl protested as her mother snapped it onto the tiny wrist.  
  
"No…now…now it's yours. My only daughter," she stopped for a moment, as if remembering. "You…are a very…im…important child. You will never kn…know how many people out there love you. I want you to…to call…"  
  
She stopped.  
  
"Mama?"  
  
"Catrina…don't…ever…forget how special…you…are…" At that her mother closed her eyes, and never opened them again. Catrina threw herself on her mother's body, crying.  
  
"Mama? Mom, wake up!! Be okay!! You're okay!! MOMMY!!!" Catrina began to cry harder then any river could run.  
  
Something was shaking her. Something she couldn't see. "What? Who?" She opened her own eyes to see a pair of concerned and unhappy Prussian blues. Tears began to flow unchecked down her cheeks.  
  
Heero, for his part, was surprised he had even found her. She had been lying on the ground so quietly he would have stepped on her, had she not cried out so suddenly. She had been twisting in the grass, crying in her sleep. All he could think of was to awaken her. And now she was crying. He was more confused then he ever had been before.  
  
"Catrina…?"  
  
She looked up at him with wet eyes shining with freshly shed tears. She managed to tell him, in slow, halting words, of her dream. Heero listened silently, without betraying any emotions on his face.  
  
"I've been having…this…this nightmare since I was a little kid. But…once I met you…and…Quatre…and the others…I stopped having it. But…it's come back now. And…it's worse then ever. I don't know why, but…I can't…I can't…" Fresh tears began to fall and she pulled her legs up to her chin.  
  
Heero had no idea what to do. He wasn't used to dealing with distraught women. It just wasn't something he did.  
  
Catrina felt isolated from the world as she sat in the dark, shadows cloaking her body, hugging herself, crying. Her tears seemed echo through the woods. With some kind of baser instinct, Heero leaned over and hugged the shivering female's body to his own.  
  
"Catrina…"  
  
Catrina looked up at Heero. His eyes shone with an acute sadness, something which he didn't usually allow others to see. He leaned towards her, all his questions held in his eyes.  
  
"Heero?"  
  
He didn't speak, but, instead, pressed his lips to hers. She understood, finally. He pulled away from her to peer into her glistening eyes, still wet with tears. She nodded and hugged him to her. For the first time since he was a little boy, Heero could feel himself finally become content. He had all he ever wanted in his arms.  
  
Heero looked so happy. He had a glow about him that made him appear almost as a young boy again, trying to find his way in the world. Catrina smiled and leaned into another kiss.  
  
*********  
  
It was early. Too early. Pre-dawn found Quatre sitting unhappily at the table in the dining room, drinking his tea. He wasn't able to sleep, no matter how hard he had tried. He was too worried about his little sister.  
  
He glanced over at the clock and sighed. Five AM in the morning. What was wrong with him? Catrina would be fine by herself, wouldn't she? He stared into his tea, brooding. He was so deep in thought that he didn't notice as the time moved slowly by. He didn't notice his tea getting colder and colder. He didn't notice the clock turn to five thirty.  
  
However, when the clock turned its digital numbers to five thirty-three, Quatre did notice something. The front door slammed shut, sending it's loud crash reverberating through the house. But that wasn't the noise he was so surprised at hearing.  
  
He could hear Catrina's laughter.  
  
Looking out the entrance of the kitchen saw a most peculiar sight. After so many months of having her not talking and being so withdrawn from everyone, this sight was just that much stranger.  
  
Heero was with Catrina, and the two of them were walking up the hall. Actually, only one of them was walking. Heero was giving Catrina the classic piggyback ride. She had her arms about his neck, her head thrown back in laughter. She was also wearing his black jacket. This wouldn't have been so surprising had both of them not been soaking wet. It almost appeared as if they had both been outside rolling around in the grass…  
  
Quatre stopped thinking. He had some of those scary mental pictures flashing before his eyes. Somehow, he managed to keep quiet as the two of them walked past him, and a door slammed shut up the hall. It took Quatre but a moment to realize it was only one door. One door. Millions of mental pictures.  
  
His screams could have woken everyone in the house…if there had been anyone paying attention.    
  
************************************************************************  
  
So, how did you like it? Not too bad I hope! ^^;; I can't believe that I finally finished this chapter! Only one more to go now. -_- *sniff* You wouldn't believe how much fun I've had with this!! ^^ If anyone has any comments, please please PLEASE e-mail them to me!! catrina_winner@sailormoon.com. Kudos for everyone how have sent me comments!! ^^ I love you all so much! (That's a…total of…two people!!) I'd put your names up here…but I don't know if they would like it… So, you can only wonder!! ^^;;; (Would you just look at what finals have done to my mind? Mush I tell you! MUSH!!!) 


	5. Chapter Five

Moonlit Past Chapter Five  
  
Catrina shifted, yawning tiredly. She slowly opened her eyes and stretched. Everything was still dark, the sun still hidden behind the hills. Cool air brushed past her face from the open window. It had been more than a year since Heero had found her crying in the woods.  
  
She stood up slowly, pushing the sheets away as she did. Moving gracefully she slipped into the bathroom and turned on the shower, lost in her own little world.  
  
She wasn't the only one up at this early hour. Heero was wandering throughout the halls of the mansion, looking to entertain himself. He heard Catrina singing in the shower, and stopped outside her room, staring at her door. He just stood there for several minutes before he finally went in.  
  
Heero looked around, wondering what he was in Catrina's room for anyway. And when she was in the shower no less! He swallowed, realizing that he had no reason to be in here. Spinning around quickly, Heero began to make his way to the door.  
  
However, before he was able to leave the spacious room, Heero was confronted with a rather startling sight. In his rush to leave, he had failed to notice Catrina stop singing. She was now standing before him, wearing nothing but a short blue robe, looking utterly confused.  
  
"H.Heero! What are you doing in my bedroom?" She blushed, recalling the last time Heero had caught her when she was just stepping out of the shower.  
  
Heero looked over to the side, trying to avoid staring at the girl. "I was just." he trailed off, not able to formulate an excuse as to why he had walked in.  
  
"Just what??" Catrina blinked, remembering Hilde's promise to visit today with the twins.  
  
"Nothing." He slowly walked closer to her. Catrina smiled slightly and met him halfway.  
  
*********  
  
Quatre looked towards the stairs with an almost worried expression. Duo and Hilde would show up within the hour, and Hilde was dying to talk with Catrina again. She would also have the twins with her. So where in the world was Catrina? It wasn't like her to be asleep for so long. Not now, especially. Ever since she and Heero had come from the woods that early, early morning, she had almost always remained in good spirits. And when she didn't, Heero was there to comfort her. Still, though, after all that time, Quatre couldn't rid himself of those mental pictures their coming had conjured for him.  
  
Suddenly, a few things made much more sense to him. He choked on his tea as the mental pictures came crowding back in his mind. That's where they are!!! His brain screamed in mocking. Quatre put his face down in his hands and groaned. Why him?? Why?  
  
"Quatre?" A puzzled Catrina looked down at him. "Whatcha doing?"  
  
Quatre looked up and moaned louder. Suddenly, Heero wandered into the room, took his sister's hand, and brought her out into the garden. While the blond boy was happy he was free from answering any questions that Catrina had, he was still amazingly curious of what was about to happen. Silently, he crept up to the third floor of the building and peered down at the two of them. He watched in amazement as Heero got down on one knee, Catrina laugh in amazement, and both of them hug. He put a ring on Catrina's finger, and they both shared a kiss. Quatre leaned against the wall, eyes widened. Heero. his brother? He fainted.  
  
*********  
  
Catrina stood in front of Heero and listened as the ex-pilot quietly asked her to marry him. Unable to contain her emotions, she threw herself into his arms almost before he had a chance to complete his sentence with a loud "yes!". He put the ring on her finger, and she barely had the chance to notice that it was inlaid with a small emerald before he was kissing her. Somewhere above she heard a slight thud, and guessed it was her brother Quatre, as happy as she was.  
  
With a genuine smile, Heero lifted Catrina off her feet and into his arms, carrying her happily back into the house and towards a vidphone, where the news of the day was to be announced, and plans to be made. They found Quatre lying in her bedroom on the balcony, out cold.  
  
Catrina smiled and laughed, helping her brother up, and flashed a grin in Heero's direction. A slight twitch in his lips was all she received in return, but she could see a glow in his eyes that was defiantly new. Quatre looked at both of them warily.  
  
"We're getting married!!" Catrina exclaimed joyfully.  
  
Quatre fainted again.  
  
*********  
  
~Owari~  
  
*********  
  
Sorry that this took so long to come out, but it's finally here! Please review. This is the second story that I've successfully completed, but one that has received very few reviews. I'm looking forwards to receiving any input you might have, and I truly hope that you all enjoyed the story!! ^^  
  
~Catrina Winner~ 


End file.
